


My Little Pony: The Portal

by RealAlex13Creations



Category: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:53:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 39
Words: 58,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23337946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealAlex13Creations/pseuds/RealAlex13Creations
Summary: When an experiment goes wrong, Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer accidentally send their best friends Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity somewhere far off and unknown. Now they must race to get their friends back before something bad happens to them. But is what is waiting for the three of them on the other side of the portal really all that bad...?
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	1. The Accident

"Are you sure that this idea is totally safe, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked skeptically.

In the presence of all of her friends, Twilight instructed Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity to all stand side by side and keep still. Spike and the others watched from their seats at the Table of Harmony in the center of the room.

"Don't worry, Rainbow. I've tended to _all_ of the calculations. It's completely safe teleportation." Twilight reassured her confidently.

"You teleport all the time though, darling," Rarity pointed out. "What do you need this for?" She asked curiously.

"Well," Starlight started. "Twilight and I were thinking; you guys get friendship problems from all over Equestria and beyond. So, what better way to improve the efficiency of our friendship problem solving than to make it where we can instantly appear wherever the problem is?" She explained.

"That makes sense. As long as it's safe." Fluttershy said, her nerves beginning to calm.

"Don't go vaporizing our friends now, you two. Be careful." Applejack said.

"Not to worry, Applejack. We got this, right, Starlight?"

"That's right." Starlight nodded, sharing Twilight's confidence.

"Well, let's do it then! Don't keep us waiting!" Pinkie exclaimed excitedly, leaning forward a bit in her anticipation.

"Heheh, alright, Pinkie. Ready, girls?" Twilight asked them.

"Ready!" Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity answered in unison.

With that, Starlight and Twilight took their places, pointing their glowing horns at the three of them. They took in slow breaths, building up the power required to perform the spell.

"Here we go..." Spike said under his breath.

**POP!**

"Fluttershy! It's tea time!" Discord shouted in a sing-song voice.

Starlight and Twilight both jumped in surprise, firing off their magic. The beams collided on the ground before Fluttershy in the middle, and a dark portal suddenly opened up from underneath them.

"Oh myy!" Fluttershy shouted.

"Ah!!!" Rarity screeched.

"Guys?!" Dash trembled.

They all fought against the pull of the portal wing and hoof, but the three of them were dragged by their tails into the portal, and they quickly disappeared into it.

It closed up behind them.

For a few long seconds there was absolute silence. All in the room were frozen in absolute shock, eyes wide open and jaws down on the floor. Twilight was the first to break the looming silence.

"Discord!!!" She growled, her teeth grinding in hot anger. Discord's reaction, while shocked, was less than apologetic as he held up his hands and floated backwards.

"Easy there, princess. Now don't get your wings tied in a knot."

"Do you have any idea what ya just did?!" Applejack shouted at him.

"I...came in at a bad time...?" Discord guessed, shrinking in size slightly.

"You just interrupted a long-distance teleportation spell at its most critical moment!" Starlight screamed.

"And that's bad, right? We teleport all the time, sooo..." Discord pointed out, his head spinning all the way around.

"But this one was meant for incredible distances! If it went wrong, that means Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy could be anywhere!" Twilight responded.

"Did you say Fluttershy could be anywhere?" Discord asked slowly.

"So...are Rarity and the others gone?" Spike asked Twilight.

"No! Of course they're not gone! They're just...somewhere else! Right?" Pinkie tried.

No one responded.

"Uh...Twilight? Right...?"

***

Rainbow Dash was the last to tumble out onto the other side of the portal, spinning into a cannonball position like tumbleweed through bushes and branches.

Finally, she collided into a tangled mess with Rarity and Fluttershy, stopping her in place. The three of them groaned in pain, backing off each other. They sat back uncomfortably.

"Goodness me! Is that you, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity called out.

"Yeah. Ow, my legs got all scratched up. Fluttershy, you there?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I can't see anything!" Fluttershy shivered, panic clearly apparent in the tone of her soft-spoken voice.

"It wasn't nighttime just a second ago. Where did that portal take us?" Rainbow Dash wondered aloud.

"Why does my body feel so weird? And it is colder than a glacier out here." Rarity shivered.

"We should look for help, girls, before we freeze to death." Fluttershy suggested through chattering teeth.

"Right!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, being the first of the three to attempt to get up.

To her surprise and confusion, her body did not respond naturally to her brain commanding her to stand. Instead of getting up on all fours, she found herself standing up tall on only two legs.

"Woah..." Dash exhaled, wiggling some unknown appendages attached to the ends of her legs. Suddenly, she found herself far more concerned.

"Guys? Where are my hooves?!" Dash yelled, starting to freak out.

"You feel it too?" Fluttershy asked quickly.

"Girls, as peculiar as this all is, perhaps we should get our situation figured out and retire to somewhere warm, and then figure all of this out." Rarity said quickly.

"Rarity's right! We gotta get moving! Hold hooves, girls. We gotta stay together." Dash said, taking charge of the situation now.

The three of them all reached out for each other, their strange hooves wrapping around each other at the ends in a foreign way. They blindly stumbled through the trees in a line, with Rainbow Dash frantically pulling the others along behind her.

None of them said anything to each other, but all of them were feeling the exact same fear, dread, and anxiety; they had no idea where they were, or what they were going to find...

Or what would be waiting for them.

***

Twilight sighed, still bubbling with a frantic and anxious energy, speed-reading through books upon books, page after page. She let out a long, frustrated sigh.

"I'm finding _nothing!_ There's nothing in these books that can help us!" Twilight screamed in a flustered panic.

"I'm not finding anything either. Nothing about tracking teleportation." Starlight said in disappointment, setting the book she'd been looking through back in its place on the shelf.

"Nothing? Nothing at _all?"_ Twilight asked. Starlight shook her head.

"Tracking the other side of teleportation has never been attempted before. There's no books for a situation like this." Starlight said with a sigh.

Twilight did not respond, sitting down and staring at the ground with an empty, wide-eyed stare. Her books fell to the floor, and her head sagged as realization hit her.

"They're gone... Did we...? Are they...?" Twilight trailed off, her emotions beginning to overpower her. Tears began to fight out of her eyes, despite her best efforts to resist them. Starlight quickly was by her side, placing a comforting hoof on her.

"I'm-I'm sure they're fine. If nopony has ever figured out how to track teleportation, then we'll just have to be the first to figure it out! There's no way we're gonna give it up now." Starlight said determinedly. Twilight nodded, lifting her head up.

"You're right. No way we won't," She agreed, standing up again. She wiped her eyes, turning towards Starlight. "Could you go and let the others know what the situation is? I'm sure they're worried sick too, and they need their nerves calmed."

"Alright, Twilight." Starlight nodded, leaving the room.

Twilight let out a sigh, taking a few moments to collect herself and gather her bearings. She scratched at her chest with one of her hooves.

"There's no way we won't give up..." She repeated in a hushed tone...


	2. Desperate Times

“So Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, AND Rarity are _all_ gone?” Trixie asked with a look of bizarre wonderment.

“Yeah. We have no idea where they could be. They could be on the other side of the world. They might not even _be_ on this world!” Starlight answered, tilting her head back and exhaling sharply.

Trixie and Starlight walked through Ponyville on their way towards Sugarcube Corner. It was early in the afternoon. The sun was high in the sky, bright and warm. Starlight’s eyes quickly bounced around, looking at everypony walking and talking and eating with smiles on their faces; happy, almost carefree.

They were completely unaware that something terrible had happened.

“Starlight? You still here?” Trixie waved her hoof in Starlight’s face. She flinched in a daze, and was shaken out of her deep thoughts.

“Huh?”

“Trixie asked what you and Twilight are doing about it.” Trixie repeated herself.

“Well, Twilight and I were up all night trying to determine if there’s some way, any way that we can trace them back and see where they ended up.” Starlight answered.

“Tracing back teleportation? That’s never been done before!” Trixie exclaimed.

“I know, but it’s the only shot we have. We have to get them back.” Starlight stated with firm conviction.

At this point, the two of them entered Sugarcube Corner, which was fairly busy, as it usually was. Pinkie was up at the front counter, staring at the cash register.

“Well, hopefully you find them soon. Trixie believes in you.” Trixie reassured her.

“Thank you, Trixie,” Starlight said with an appreciative smile. She turned her attention to Pinkie as they approached the front counter.

“Hey, Pinkie.” Starlight greeted her.

“…”

Pinkie gave no response. She too had become consumed by her thoughts, so much so that she didn’t even seem to notice them standing right in front of her.

“Pinkie Pie.” Trixie called to her, tapping her on the nose. Pinkie blinked and leaned back.

“Huh???”

“Hey, Pinkie. You okay?” Starlight asked.

“Oh, Starlight! You’re here! How’d it go with Twilight last night? Did you figure out where Dashie and Rarity and Fluttershy are?!” Pinkie asked urgently.

“Not yet,” Starlight shook her head. “This is a very complicated problem. We’re doing a ton of research just to figure out where to _begin!_ ” She explained.

“Ohh, I’m going crazy worrying about them! Who knows what sort of dangerous situation they could be in? The possibilities are endless!”

“I know… We’re doing our best and working as fast as possible to bring them back… I do hope that they’re okay though.” Starlight admitted.

***

“Ow! These dumb branches keep scratching at me!” Dash growled in annoyance, hissing from the faint pain.

“We’re reaching a clearing now. Maybe we’ll find a place where we can acquire some clothes to warm ourselves.” Rarity said hopefully.

“How will we be able to pay for clothes? We don’t have any bits. We don’t have anything at all.” Fluttershy pointed out.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, darling. I’m afraid we’ll have to take some anyways.” Rarity said.

“Look over there! That says ‘General Clothing Store’. We can steal something from there!” Rainbow Dash said, pointing ahead of them.

“S-Steal? Are you sure?” Fluttershy asked doubtfully.

“What other choice do we have? Let’s tread carefully now.” Rarity advised.

The three of them quickly stepped out of the woods and into the dim clearing. With few lights on, they could hardly see anything around them. The night was silent, and the air was cold and wet.

Dash was the first among them to start running towards the store, but the others quickly followed behind her. They quickly reached the store, and began searching for a way in.

“The door is locked. Well, we tried.” Fluttershy said nervously, trying to get the others to change their minds.

“Hang on,” Dash spoke up, brushing past her and trying to open the door herself. When pushing it normally didn’t work, she slammed into it, and forced the door open.

“See? There we go.”

“Good work, Rainbow Dash. Let’s find some clothes quickly and get out of here.” Rarity said. They all quickly nodded their heads in agreement.

“Yes, please. It’s very dark and creepy in here.” Fluttershy said with a shiver as they searched through the small store.

The girls all quietly roamed through the store. Under the dim light in the center of the store, they were able to get a better glimpse at how their bodies had changed…

Instead of hooves, they had odd extremities at the ends of their arms and legs, with padded feet for walking and strange lumps with 5 moveable phalanges good for grabbing clothes. They no longer had a fur coat either; instead, their body parts were covered with a smooth and more sensitive coat of different shades of beige. They still had luscious manes on their heads, but even _those_ didn’t feel the same.

“What the hay are we?” Dash asked aloud, staring down at herself in wonder and horror.

“I’m unsure, but it’s quite a complex-looking creature, isn’t it?” Rarity chimed in.

“I have weird things in weird place.” Fluttershy commented.

“I see why these things have so many clothes; these bodies are so weird looking.” Dash said as she began to dress herself, fumbling with her clothes in an awkward manner.

“At least a sense of fashion isn’t completely lost on them. Some of these pieces look rather nice, although some might be more casual than others.” Rarity reviewed as she began selectively grabbing clothes.

“How do you put this on?” Fluttershy asked, holding up a shirt. Instead of waiting for an answer, she fought with it until she had it on.

Once the three of them had dressed themselves, they promptly left the store with a variety of clothing tucked underneath their arms. As they were walking away, sirens began to blare in the distance. Red and blue lights were soon lighting up the darkness and zooming towards them.

“That sounds bad! I think we should run!” Rainbow Dash shouted, looking behind her as a black chariot of some kind was pulling up to the store. On the side, it read: ****POLICE****.

Fluttershy shrieked and quickly took off running. Rainbow Dash and Rarity were quickly doing the same, huffing desperately with their stolen clothes clutched tightly to their hips.

The sprint to escape the police was not an easy one. They cold wetness of the rain still lingered in the air and the bitter wind slapping their faces as they ran against it made their faces sting with frostbite.

“We need shelter! Badly!” Rainbow Dash yelled to the group.

“Hey, I see doors on those buildings over there! Perhaps we could get into one?” Rarity recommended, gesturing ahead of them.

Up ahead, they could see a series of tall, rectangular buildings far from them. There were lights that made them easier to see. They had no time to waste.

They broke into a mad for the buildings, the bottoms of their feet slapping against the wet ground. In a matter of seconds, they were there.

“It doesn’t look like anypony’s in this one.” Fluttershy said, pointing to a door whose corresponding window showed no light peeking through it.

“It’ll have to do. Dash, do hurry with the door, please?” Rarity said, hearing the police sirens still wailing not far from where they were.

Rainbow Dash aggressively began slamming into the door, banging into it again and again. Finally, her relentless shoulder slams caused the door to give way, and it flew open.

The three of them scampered inside, quickly throwing the door shut behind them. They were huffing and puffing, but they were relieved to be safe for the time being.

“That was close.” Rainbow Dash said, turning the lights on in the room.

They found themselves in a small apartment. The kitchen was to their left, the living room was to their right, and a single hallway lay directly in front of them.

“Well, I’ve certainly seen nicer homes, but it will have to do for now.” Rarity said as she began drying herself off. The other girls did the same.

“I hope Twilight gets us soon, before we get into more trouble.” Fluttershy said, beginning to look around the living room.

“You said it, Fluttershy. Between the cold rain and getting chased by those ‘police’, I’d say the sooner we’re gone the better.” Rainbow Dash said, sitting down in a tall chair by the kitchen counter.

“It makes me wonder where Twilight wanted to send us in the first place.” Rarity commented, doing her best to fix her hair.

“Girls…look at this place.” Fluttershy said, picking up a picture frame in her hands. She carefully held it out for the other two to see.

The picture showed what appeared to be a family of three. One had long hair and a body like theirs, but the other two were different. They both had short hair and a different structure. The one in the center was much shorter; a child.

“How cute! But…why are you showing us this?” Rarity asked.

“It’s a family photo. We ponies put family photos in our homes too, which means-“

“Somepony lives here.” Rainbow Dash finished Fluttershy’s thought.

From outside, a cough echoed through the door. The doorknob began to wobble a bit, putting the three girls on edge.

“I think the owner just arrived.” Rarity gasped.


	3. Alex

The three girls frantically ducked down into hiding places: Rainbow Dash crouched behind the kitchen counter, Fluttershy hid herself behind the living room couch, and Rarity closed herself inside of a nearby closet.

The doorknob rattles as its key was inserted. The door’s lock was turned out of the way, and the door was pushed open. The resident of the apartment stepped inside.

At first, all any of them could hear were sounds: heavy footsteps, the door being closed and locked, breathing, and keys rattling.

Quietly and carefully, Rainbow Dash adjusted herself, crawling forward on the small kitchen floor. She pulled herself to the edge of the counter, and peeked around to see who had just come in. Standing in the center of the room and staring down at a glowing screen was another odd creature like them, but it looked very different:

He had short, dark hair slightly in disarray on top, brushed up in the front. He had a fairly youthful overall appearance. He wore light blue clothes and a black jacket.

Rainbow Dash watched him from her hiding place as he put his object away, then made his way back to the closet by the door. He removed his jacket and opened the door quickly.

Any hopes of them going unnoticed quickly disappeared once he took notice of Rarity’s long legs inside his closet. He moved his jackets aside, revealing the rest of her.

“Oh dear…” Rarity shuddered through her hands.

He stumbled back, catching himself on the kitchen counter. He knocked his keys off the counter. They fell, and hit Rainbow Dash in the back.

“Ow!” She hissed, getting up from her hiding place. The creature fell onto the floor, yelping in both shock and pain.

“Oh dear, are you alright? That sounded like it hurt.” Fluttershy stood up as well. The creature crawled back a bit, grunting in confusion.

“Wh-huh-how many of you are there?!” He shouted.

“It’s just us three, dearie.” Rarity answered, stepping out of closet nervously.

“Please, try and calm down. We don’t mean any harm.” Fluttershy said, trying to be reassuring.

“Yeah, we just literally had nowhere else to go.” Dash added.

He finally pulled himself up to his feet, still shaking a bit from the shock. He looked at all three of them, his eyes darting quickly and indecisively.

“Wh-what’re you three doing in here?!” He shouted again.

“It’s…it’s a long story.” Rarity said with a sigh.

“Look. Basically, we’re not from around here. We’re lost, stranded, with no idea where we are and nowhere to go. We did what we had to do.” Rainbow Dash summarized.

“We didn’t mean to frighten you. Please, we’re just very desperate.” Fluttershy pleaded with him.

Fluttershy locked eyes with him for a few moments. Her pleading, sparkling eyes seemed to be stirring something in him, but he was doing well not to show it.

“Leave… Leave now.” He demanded. The three of them sighed sadly, their heads sinking.

“Of course.” Rarity agreed.

“We’ll leave.” Fluttershy sighed.

“Guess we’ll have to figure something else out then.” Rainbow Dash grumbled as the three of them walked to the door, their things under their arms.

He watched them slowly plod to the door. Fluttershy looked back at him with the same pleading expression before turning around again, ready to walk out with the others. He sighed and folded his arms. Then he shook his head. Then he swallowed hard. Finally, he growled in submission.

“Aaagh, wait,” He called to them. The three of them all turned around. All eyes were on him as they anxiously awaited silently for him to say something.

“You…you said you’re lost? Not from around here?” He asked slowly.

They all looked at each other and nodded silently.

“So, you’re, like, foreign then? Refugees?” He asked.

“Foreign, yeah. Something like that.” Rainbow Dash answered with a shrug.

“We know this is very unexpected and shocking. Believe me, darling, we’d have never done this if we had a more civilized option.” Rarity said.

He was quiet again, looking them all up and down. He was calculating his options, making a decision in his head. They could only hope that he would make one that would help them.

“…alright. You can stay.” He decided.

“Really?” Dash asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

“Yeah,” He sighed. “I can’t bring myself to kick you out. I’d want someone to help me too if I was in your shoes. I’ll get you some air mattresses and sheets for the night.” He said.

“Thank you,” Fluttershy said with a sigh of relief. “Thank you so much. You’re very kind.” She said.

“Yeah, no problem,” He said with a sigh, going to another closet. “Let me get you all settled in then.”

“Thank you, uh… What’s your name?” Rarity asked.

“Alexander. Call me Alex, please. And ya’ll are?” He asked them.

“I’m Rarity, darling.”

“Rainbow Dash.”

“And I’m Fluttershy. Pleased to meet you.”

“Are those, like, stripper names?” Alex mumbled.

“What?” Fluttershy asked.

“Nothing. It’s nice to meet you three.” He said, going and carrying in two folded air mattresses stacked on top of each other, with a box on top of them. He carried the heavy load into the living room.

“Do you need any help with those, Alex?” Rarity offered.

“No no, I got it.” He said quickly, setting everything down on the floor and getting it ready for them.

“Okay.” Rainbow Dash said, folding her arms as they all watched him work.

“Uh, so the bathroom’s down the hall, first door on the left… One of you will have to take the couch.” He informed them. They all glanced at each other.

“I’ll take the couch.” Rainbow Dash volunteered.

“Thank you, dear.” Rarity said softly.

Alex turned on a machine that began to inflate the first mattress, but it also made a lot of noise, cutting off any more conversation. Alex awkwardly kept his eyes down on the inflating mattress, not looking up at any of them.

The three girls all exchanged awkward looks, unsure of what to do other than silently stand there and watch him, which only seemed to make him more uneasy.

Once both mattresses were finally inflated, he set their blankets down on the couch for them, then turned and addressed them again.

“Uh, blankets and pillows are all here…bathroom…yeah… Goodnight.” He said with a wave, retreating to his bedroom and quickly shutting the door behind him. They heard the door lock with a click.

The three girls all looked at each other once more, unsure what to make of that whole exchange. Nevertheless, they began preparing to settle in for the night.

“Well, that was weird…” Rainbow Dash spoke first as she clumsily began to unfold her blanket.

“Perhaps the shock of finding us made it awkward… I’d be awkward too.” Fluttershy commented awkwardly.

“It is rather late, Dashie. That’s another factor to all this mess.” Rarity pointed out.

“You…you girls aren’t worried about this guy?” Rainbow Dash asked them in a quieter voice.

“I don’t know. He’s letting us stay here in his home.” Fluttershy answered with a shrug.

“Considering our current circumstances, I’m just grateful we have a place to sleep tonight, even if it’s with somepony we don’t know.” Rarity said, lying down.

“I’m gonna stand guard tonight, just in case.” Rainbow Dash decided.

“You go right on ahead, darling.” Rarity said with a yawn.

“Don’t stay up too late,” Fluttershy yawned and lied down. “Goodnight, girls.”

“Goodnight.” Rainbow Dash and Rarity responded simultaneously.

Inside of the apartment’s single bedroom, Alex was standing by the door; he had been listening to what the three of them had been saying. He wasn’t sure what to think of them yet though.

Back in the living room, Rainbow Dash had laid down as well, but her eyes were still open. She was silent, her ears listening for noise. She was waiting to see if Alex would come back out.

Time passed; how much, she had no idea. Alex didn’t come out, and it didn’t sound like he would be anytime soon.

Finally, Rainbow Dash gave in to her sleepiness, turning onto her side and fully resting her head on her pillow. Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep too…


	4. Temporary Accommodations

Inside the Tree of Harmony, Starlight stepped out of her room after her early morning shower. She immediately began making her way down into the castle library.

She had stayed up into the early hours of the morning working with Twilight on their research for finding their friends. Starlight eventually turned in for the night, suggesting to Twilight that she do the same before leaving her to continue their work alone.

“Egh…no…perhaps Star Swirl’s old book on teleportation properties? No... Maybe the…no…” Twilight groaned in frustration.

As she had expected, Twilight was right there in the library where she had left her. She slowly opened the door, peeking in and entering quietly.

The princess of friendship was quickly flying back and forth in a frantic panic, pulling out book after book. Her eyes darted around wildly, without any clear focus. Her mane was a total mess, hairs pointing every which way.

“Twilight? Are you alright?” Starlight asked her slowly, with a soft voice.

“No! I’m anything but alright! I’ve searched and double-searched every book in this library; I’ve found nothing! Nothing that can help us!” Twilight said.

“You double-checked _every_ book? How long have you been here since I left?”

“I couldn’t sleep! I’ve been up all night!” Twilight answered in the same frantic tone.

“All night?! Twilight, you’re gonna wear yourself out, if you haven’t already! You gotta take a break.” Starlight insisted. Twilight quickly landed in front of her, stumbling a bit upon her sloppy descent.

“Do you _not_ want to get them back? We need to find them as soon as possible!” Twilight shouted, making Starlight flinch backwards.

“I know, and I agree, but these calculations are way too complex and important to do sleepy. We need full focus. So, I know you’re worried, but please try and get some rest. I’ll eat breakfast and keep going, and when you’re fresh, I’ll let you know what I’ve found.” Starlight suggested.

“Okay…” Twilight sighed. “Just a short nap.” She agreed finally, leaving the library. Starlight went downstairs to go and make herself breakfast.

***

Fluttershy quietly sat up in her spot on the couch, stretching her arms out. She rubbed her eyes with the tips of her knuckles, sliding out from underneath her blanket. She quietly stood up on her feet, careful not to wake the others. Stepping quietly around the air mattress, she made her way into the kitchen.

She paused, curiously eyeing a picture frame sitting on a small nightstand not far from where Rarity’s head lay. She approached it, bending forward slightly to look at it closer.

It was another family photo; the same family, but now it was a family of four. The mother and father stood behind an older boy with glasses, and that boy held a baby in his arms.

There was an odd sense of fondness that Fluttershy could feel just by looking at the picture. Although the creatures in the picture looked strange to her, they still just looked like a happy family.

The door down the hall opened, and out came Alex in his pajamas. He squinted a bit upon seeing Fluttershy, who straightened awkwardly and waved to him with her fingers curled.

“Good morning, Alex.” Fluttershy greeted him softly. Alex let out a labored exhale, rubbing his eyes.

“Morning… Still here?” Alex asked strangely.

“Mhmm,” Fluttershy nodded. “Thank you for the blankets. Mine was very soft.” Fluttershy said appreciatively. Alex’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Are the others here?”

“Mhmm. They’re just asleep.” She nodded again.

Alex made his way past Fluttershy, brushing past her and looking over the other two girls. He seemed surprised to see them still there. He nodded to himself, as if giving a final confirmation over the matter.

“Okay… Cool. Well, you hungry?” Alex asked.

“A little bit, yes. It’s no problem.” Fluttershy answered, politely dismissing it.

“Nah, I can make you something real quick.” Alex said, going over to the kitchen. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a long white object with several ends; he put one end into his right ear.

“What’s that?” Fluttershy asked him curiously.

“Hmm? My earbuds?” Alex asked. She nodded.

“Uhh… I listen to music with them.” He answered slowly.

“Ohh okay.”

“How do you like your eggs?” Alex asked, putting a pan on the stove. Fluttershy was quick to protest.

“Oh no no no, it’s alright. You don’t have to do all that.”

“It’s fine. I’ll just scramble them for you,” Alex said. Fluttershy sighed a bit, choosing not to fight him any more over it.

“So, what’s your story?” He asked suddenly.

“My…story?”

“Yeah. You come to my apartment ‘cause you needed a place to stay, and here ya’ll still are. Where’d you come from?” Alex questioned.

“Uh, from…not around here… Very far away.” She answered slowly, taking a cautious approach to how she responded.

“Foreign?”

“Huh?”

“Did you come from another country?” Alex asked as he began to cook her eggs.

“…yes.” Fluttershy nodded.

“Which one?” Alex asked, getting more specific in his questions.

“E-Equestria.” Fluttershy stuttered, attempting to stop herself as the answer slipped from her tongue.

“Hmm. Never heard of it. It sounds pretty out there. Equestria,” Alex repeated. “As in ‘Equestrian’?”

“Heheh, yeah.” Fluttershy chuckled nervously.

“Okay. So how’d you end up here?” Alex asked. Fluttershy gulped nervously, pausing for a moment to find the right words to phrase her answer.

“Uh…it’s a long story. You know, traveling accident…?” Fluttershy tried. She was relieved when Alex finally nodded.

“Okay. We’ll just leave it at that then.” Alex said, picking up that she didn’t want to say too much, but for what reason, he could only imagine.

“Thank you.” Fluttershy said with a relieved sigh.

“Yeah. So you’re clearly not from anywhere around here.” Alex repeated.

“Yes,” Fluttershy nodded. “We don’t know anything about this place. We don’t have a whole lot on us. We’re _really_ unprepared.” Fluttershy summarized their situation that way.

“I see,” Alex hummed, now putting her eggs onto a plate and salting them. “Well, are you stuck here permanently then?” Alex asked reservedly. Fluttershy shook her head.

“Oh no, our friends are working to find us.” She answered.

“Oh good. That’s good,” Alex replied, pouring her a glass of milk. “How long do you think that could be?”

“Probably a few days.” Fluttershy guessed.

“Alright. Well, I’ll see if I can find some help for you three, and I’ll-I’ll… You can stay here until then, I suppose.” Alex decided.

“Really?” Fluttershy asked, her eyebrows rising a bit.

“Sure. It’s just temporary, of course, ‘til your friends come get ya.” Alex nodded, finally serving her food to her.

“Thank you! Thank you so much!” Fluttershy said, grinning happily. Alex nodded, looking off to his left.

“No problem. You’re welcome,” Alex said, making eye contact with her after a bit and nodding. “Enjoy your breakfast. I’mma shower.”

“Okay. Thank you.” Fluttershy said again. Alex passed by her, leaving her to eat her food.

She ate silently, feeling relieved to know that they had at least some temporary accommodations until Twilight and the others could come and get them. They had someone nice to help them out until then.

As she finished her food, she could hear someone stirring behind her. She turned in her chair to see Rarity stirring, and Rainbow Dash was already beginning to sit up.

“Good morning, girls.” Fluttershy greeted them.

“Morning,” Rainbow Dash yawned. “Aww man, I slept like a rock.” She muttered.

“Good morning. Did you rest well, Fluttershy?” Rarity asked, rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes.

“I did. I have good news.” She said to them.

“Yeah? What is it?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I was just talking to Alex, and he says he’s willing to help us out and get a place to stay until Twilight and the others find us!” Fluttershy said to them.

“Ah, well that _is_ good news. We’ll be sure to thank him for being so kind.” Rarity said with a smile. Rainbow Dash, however, didn’t look so convinced.

“I don’t know, something seems kinda off about that dude to me.” She voiced her opinion.

“Our options are limited, I’m afraid,” Rarity said. “Besides, a little trust hasn’t affected us terribly too many times.”

Before Rainbow Dash could respond, Alex came out of the bathroom wearing black pants and a burgundy long sleeve shirt. He looked at all of them as he came out.

“Oh, you’re all awake. Good.” Alex said a bit awkwardly.

Yes, good morning, Alex.” Rarity said. Dash gave him a silent nod.

“I was just telling the girls about how you’ve agreed to help us.” Fluttershy said.

“Yes. We can’t thank you enough for being so generous.” Rarity said with an appreciative grin.

“Uh, yeah, you’re welcome. So, I was just thinking about that.” Alex began.

“Change your mind?” Dash interrupted him.

“No. No, I was just wondering; you don’t have a whole lot on you, right?” Alex asked them. They shook their heads.

“Just the clothes we came in with.” Rarity answered.

“Yeah, I figured. Well, I figured we can go out and get some stuff for you guys. You know, soap and toothbrushes, an outfit, stuff like that just to hold you down.”

“We’d appreciate that.” Fluttershy nodded.

“We need it.” Rainbow Dash admitted.

“Cool. We’ll do that then. But first, the two of you need breakfast too. Hope you like eggs.” Alex said, reentering the kitchen.

The girls all exchanged glances and nodded.


	5. Suspicious

Alex stood up curiously, looking at the three girls, who stared back at him with blank, clueless expressions. He leaned out the door of his odd vehicle.

“Something wrong?” He asked them.

“Is…that some kind of chariot with four wheels?” Rarity asked.

“Uh, chariot? Ya’ll’ve never seen a car before?” Alex asked in disbelief as he stepped around his black Toyota Camry. He opened the doors for them.

“Car?” Rainbow Dash repeated, staring at the car and clearly at a loss.

“Okay. Come along, girls. Ya’ll take your seats inside,” Alex said, suddenly feeling very out of place as he escorted them all into his car.

“Close your doors,” He instructed them, plopping into the driver’s seat. He shut his door, and the others imitated him, taking their seats. Rarity took the passenger seat, while the other two sat in the back.

“Seatbelts on like so,” Alex demonstrated putting his seatbelt on, and again, the girls did as he did. Alex nodded when they had all strapped themselves in.

“Alright. Hold on. Here we go.” Alex said, starting the car. The engine turned and revved to life, making all three of them jolt fearfully.

“Eek! It’s angry!” Fluttershy shrieked.

“How does this thing move, dear?” Rarity asked, her body stiffening and her hands instinctively grabbing on tightly to anything she could get a hold of.

“On its own. I just steer it.” Alex answered, shifting gears and pulling out of his parking spot in reverse.

All three of the girls freaked out yet again as the car began to move at Alex’s direction. They clung fearfully to the doors of the car. Alex cleared his throat.

“Just relax. I got ya’ll.” Alex said to them, pulling forward into the street just like he had a million times before.

“Sorry, darling. We’ve never been in anything like this before.” Rarity responded to him. He nodded.

“I can see that. It’s alright.” Alex said.

“Does everypony have one of these things?” Fluttershy asked, observing all the other different cars around them.

“Just about. It’s kind of a necessity.”

“Are these things safe?” Rainbow Dash asked a little wearily.

“Depends on whose driving. With me, you’ll be fine.” Alex answered.

“Forgive us, darling, if we ask a lot of questions. We aren’t from anywhere around here.” Rarity disclosed.

“Yeah, she was saying that earlier,” Alex said, pointing back towards Fluttershy. “I understand. I’ll try and answer any and all questions that you got.” Alex said.

“Thanks.” Rainbow Dash said.

“So! Ya’ll are ‘Equestrians’, huh? Where is that exactly?” Alex asked them.

All three girls froze up again, hesitant to answer. They all exchanged some quick unhelpful glances, for they were still at a loss for how to answer him without overwhelming him with the hard to believe truth.

However, before anyone could even try to begin, another car cut in front of Alex abruptly, forcing him to hit the brakes roughly. All three girls shrieked in shock.

“Jesus, dude! What are you doing?! Does this look like the 500 to you?!” Alex shouted, slamming his hand down on the car horn as the car came to a stop.

“Is everyone alright?” Alex asked once he had calmed down.

“Yeah, yes, I’m alright.” Rarity nodded, adjusting her hair.

“Uhuh.” Fluttershy shuddered, shivering from the aftershock.

“Yeah, for the most part,” Rainbow Dash exhaled. “What was that?”

“Some idiot got in front of me in a way he wasn’t supposed to. That’s why I said it depends on who’s behind the wheel of the car.” Alex said with a huff.

They sighed in relief, not just because of the near-disaster that they had avoided, but also because they were, for the moment, spared from having to answer Alex’s question.

Alex turned into the parking lot of a large store. Alex entered and pulled into a parking space close to the store. The girls looked up at the large box-shaped store, and the name posted on it:

****Wal-Mart** **

“Wal-Mart…? That sounds very tacky.” Rarity said, cringing a bit.

“It does, doesn’t it?” Alex said, apparently having never considered this before, “But it’s convenient, and it should have sufficient clothes and other stuff.” Alex said as he got out of the car.

The girls all followed him out, and it was a quiet walk to the store. Stepping inside, it wasn’t an impressive sight, but it was larger than what they had expected.

“It looks like they sell a lot of things here.” Fluttershy observed.

“Yep, they sure do. It’s a ‘super store’ as they call it.” Alex elaborated.

“I don’t recall ever seeing any super stores like this back home.” Rarity thought aloud.

Alex began to lead them through, advising them to stay close to him. They followed behind him, looking all around them curiously at all of the people and all of the merchandise.

“Here we are,” Alex said. They stopped at the women’s’ clothing section. “All that you’ll need clothes-wise is here. One outfit each, including socks and shoes for your feets.” Alex stipulated.

“Are you sure?” Fluttershy asked. Alex nodded.

“Yeah. I’mma grab a cart real quick. Let me know when I get back if you need anything.” Alex said.

“Will do.” Rainbow Dash said. Alex gave them a thumbs-up before leaving them to it.

“Come come, girls. Even under pressing circumstances, we can still find something fabulous to wear.” Rarity said, looking to make the most of the situation.

Meanwhile, as Alex went to grab a cart, he took out his phone, plugged in his earbuds, and made a phone call. He walked quietly as it rang, and he waited for an answer…

“Hello?”

“Hey, Evan! You busy?” Alex asked.

“Not really. I was sleeping in actually.”

“Okay. Hey, listen, not to alarm you, I’m not asking for nothing right now, but I got a problem.” Alex began.

“…yeah?”

“Yeah, see, uh… I got these three girls staying at my apartment right now. They’re homeless, or something to that effect, and they need a place to stay until their friends can come get them.” Alex explained.

There was a pause on the other end…

“You serious?”

“Yeah, I am actually. Anyways, I’m gonna look into finding some people for them to stay with. If you come across anyone that could help out, let me know.” Alex requested.

“Sure sure man… Hey, are you, like, in trouble? Do we need to make some calls?”

“No no, it’s alright, nothing like that, don’t worry. Just helping some strangers with nowhere else to go. I ain’t like that. That’s your job.” Alex joked.

“Tch. Right. Keep me posted. I’ll call you back later.”

“Sure. Later, Evan.” Alex said before hanging up the phone.

Alex made his way back to the women’s section, walking around the edges of that section of the store until he spotted the girls in the shoe section, wandering aimlessly up and down one of the aisles.

“Hey there, shoppers. Need some help?” Alex asked, bringing the cart up next to Rainbow Dash.

“We can’t figure out these sizes.” She said in an annoyed huff. Alex nodded.

“Fear not, for I was trained for this very scenario. Yeah, I don’t get women’s shoe sizes either.” Alex said, going to the bench where Fluttershy had sat down. He got down on one knee, pulling out an odd-looking metal object from underneath her seat.

“What is that?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“It measures feet for shoe sizes. Observe.” Alex answered, kneeling in front of her and guiding her bare foot in to the strange device.

“Eep, it’s cold.” Fluttershy flinched a bit.

“Heheh, yeah,” Alex chuckled in agreement, adjusting some moveable pieces on the device. “There. That number right there is your size.” Alex said, pointing to it.

“Ohh, okay. Thanks!” Fluttershy said, getting up and looking at the shoes corresponding to her number.

Alex glanced to his left for a moment, noticing that there was a middle-aged woman in the aisle not too far from where they were. She was staring at him oddly. He simply shrugged.

“Who’s next?” Alex asked the other two…


	6. News

"I must say, Alex, darling, if I'm speaking honestly, some parts of this place look actually quite lovely. Other areas could use some improvements though." Rarity surmised her thoughts.

"No arguments with that," Alex said with a nod. "But, overall, how're you liking it here?" He asked, sitting back on his couch.

"Overall, it's been nice. Thank you for going through such great lengths to help us." Rarity said with a big smile, sitting not far from him in a set of his pajamas that he'd let her borrow.

"Don't mention it." Alex said, glancing her way with a quick, small smile before going back to typing on his phone.

At that moment, Rainbow Dash came out after changing into another one of Alex's shirts, which fit big on her, and gym shorts for her pajamas. Fluttershy was still in the shower.

"I'm feeling hungry. You got any food in here?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking through the pantry. Rarity huffed a bit at Rainbow's rudeness, but Alex seemed to show no outward reaction to it.

"Unfortunately, I don't have anything prepared. There's a Wendy's down the road though. We can grab a quick bite for everyone." Alex suggested.

"Yeah, sure. We can do that." Rainbow Dash agreed, grabbing a pair of sandals.

"We'll be back soon." Alex said, getting up. He grabbed an umbrella on their way out, and locked the door behind them.

"So how far is Wendy's restaurant?" Rainbow Dash asked, apparently referring to 'Wendy' as the supposed owner of the restaurant.

"That's it right there," Alex pointed down and across the street to a cube-shaped brick restaurant. "Not far." He said as they began to walk.

"Cool. What do they got there?"

"Burgers and salads and shakes, mainly." Alex answered with a shrug.

"What kind of burgers?"

"Hamburgers…?"

"Hamburgers…?" Rainbow Dash slowly repeated. "Never heard of them. Where do they come from?"

"They're meat."

"Meat…?" She repeated again, growing a little pale.

"Yeah. Cow." Alex nodded nonchalantly.

"Um, we'll go with the salads." Rainbow Dash said.

"You don't eat meat?"

"No." Rainbow Dash answered in no uncertain terms very quickly.

"Gotcha. That's cool. I do." Alex said. Rainbow Dash said nothing.

There was some awkward silence between them.

"Looks like it's gonna rain again tonight." Alex observed. Rainbow Dash looked up curiously.

"Is it scheduled to?" She asked.

"The forecast said there's like a 40% chance of rain, but you never really know."

"You don't know what the weather's gonna be like?! Who's in charge of it?" She questioned. Alex blinked slowly.

"No one…?"

"But-but then, like, how do things stay in order?"

"They…just do?" Alex tried, really not understanding what Rainbow Dash was getting at.

"That's crazy!" She exclaimed.

"Um, it doesn't happen any other way." He said with a cough.

"Not where we're from." She shook her head. Alex quickly turned around and stopped.

"Hold that thought. The rain's coming this way." He said, pointing behind them.

Turning around, Rainbow Dash indeed saw the rain pouring down. It was coming their way like a moving wall of falling water. She merely shrugged at it.

"So?"

"You wanna get sick?"

"It's just rain. What's the big deal?"

"Ugh." Alex rolled his eyes.

Rather than continue bantering back and forth with her, he held his umbrella out towards the incoming rain. He pressed a button on it. It extended out with a pop, and shot open. Alex raised it above their heads just before the rain passed over them.

"…nice." Rainbow Dash gulped.

"Thank you. Shall we?" Alex asked, gesturing for them to continue.

"Uhuh." She nodded.

"Hey, Rarity," Fluttershy said as she came out into the living room drying her hair. "What're you watching?"

"I got a tad bored, and I found this thing that controls the screen here. So I turned it on, and it appears to be some kind of story telling program?" Rarity guessed.

"Ohh, that sounds interesting." Fluttershy said, sitting with her to watch it as well.

" _In other news today, it is still unclear what the status is in Puerto Rico in the wake of the devastating effects of hurricane Maria. The entire island is still without power, and estimates say it could cost tens of millions of dollars, and up to 30 years to undo the damage that the storm has done. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims…_

" _In local news today, investigations are still underway for the murder of Carlos Anthony. Carlos was in his home three nights ago when his neighbors reported hearing gunshots coming from somewhere in the building. Right now, police have declined to reveal any suspects. If you have any information, or see anything suspicious, please report to the local crime-stoppers hotline. The number is on your screen."_

"Goodness me! That's terrible! Why would somepony sit here and listen to such depressing stories?" Rarity asked.

"I don't know. That first one looked really real though. About 'Puerto Rico'?" Fluttershy repeated the name slowly so as not to mess it up.

"Surely it couldn't have been. Those winds looked _way_ too strong," Rarity said. "Besides, I'm sure they have folks to keep watch over the weather just like we do."

"Yeah, I guess. Still, why would they tell the story like that then?" Fluttershy asked. Rarity just shrugged and shook her head.

The door opened up just then, and in Rainbow Dash and Alex came, clutching the food they'd gotten from Wendy's to their bodies.

"Welcome back! How was the trip?" Rarity asked.

"Pretty good. Glad I grabbed an umbrella; it started raining about halfway there." Alex said with a chuckle.

"That's good." Fluttershy commented.

"What's on the news?" Alex asked curiously as he began to take everyone's food out.

"Simply upsetting stories," Rarity shook their heads. "They talked about a place called Puerto Rico getting hit by something called Maria, and another of a murder of a Carlos in his home."

"What a shame," Alex said. "Did they say anything about how the people in Puerto Rico are doing?"

"They said it's unclear." Fluttershy answered.

"I hope everyone's alright. I've got family down there. That's where my family's from." Alex said with a bit of a worried look.

"Really?" Fluttershy raised her head a bit.

"Goodness gracious, were those stories real?" Rarity asked, her eyes widening.

"I wish they weren't. I'll have to call and see if my folks are alright." Alex said.

"I can't believe you guys don't have _anything_ to control the weather here! You seriously gotta look into it if things like that keep happening!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Uhuh. That brings me to my next thing; so Rainbow Dash was explaining to me that ya'll are actually ponies from some other world?" Alex asked bluntly.

Rarity and Fluttershy both froze up, turning their heads and glaring at Rainbow Dash fiercely. She shriveled up a bit, shrugging her shoulders awkwardly.

"I suppose there's no point in discretion now, is there?" Rarity said through clenched teeth, still staring down Rainbow Dash a bit.

"It's true." Fluttershy confirmed. They all eyed him nervously, unsure how he would respond. Alex's eyes scanned all three of them.

"Okay." Alex said with a nonchalant shrug. All three girls became restless.

"That's it? You're not…weirded out?" Fluttershy asked slowly.

"I've heard weirder," Alex shrugged. "I wouldn't recommend telling that to anyone else though. People will think you're crazy or high or both." Alex said as he served their drinks.

"But do you believe us?" Rainbow Dash asked. Alex paused for a moment.

"I got ya'll salads since you don't eat meat." He said, handing their food out.

The girls' heads all sank a bit as they accepted their food…


	7. Forest Trail

"I'm not sure how else to put this… I feel guilty over what happened. I won't bother saying what happened again since you already know all the details, but… I'll just come right out and say it, every time I think about it I get this sinking feeling. Do you know what I mean?"

Discord looked across Fluttershy's living room to Angel Bunny, who simply ignored him and ate his carrot. He growled in frustration, standing up.

"Urgh, no! That's not right at all! You're supposed to make me feel better! That's what Fluttershy would do! At least say something!" Discord shouted. Angel Bunny responded by chucking a portion of his carrot at him. Discord's face went stoic as it bounced off of him.

"This isn't working."

Another morning came upon the stranded trio. Fluttershy, as usual, was the first to wake up and freshen herself up, being sure to stay quiet so as not to disturb the others. She showered and dressed herself the best she could manage with her unfamiliar hands.

As she did so, she began to ponder over everything that had happened the past few short days, as the others were no doubt doing also. So much had happened in such a short period of time, and it was no really beginning to impress on Fluttershy just how uncertain their situation really was.

She decided not to let doubts overtake her, and just hope that Twilight and the others would come as soon as she'd told Alex they would.

She came out of the bathroom. To her surprise, Alex was already in the kitchen making a modest breakfast for himself, dressed in a shirt with no sleeves and shorts. He had his earbuds in his ear, so she had to get his attention first before greeting him.

"Good morning, Alex." She said. He removed an earbud and nodded.

"Morning, Fluttershy. Did you sleep alright?" He asked.

"I did, thank you."

"Are you an early riser? You seem to be the first one up again." Alex asked.

"I am," Fluttershy nodded. "I have some roosters back home, so I'm used to them being my alarm in the morning." She said with a giggle. Alex nodded.

"Huh, cool. Well, I'm just making something light since I got groceries today." He said. Fluttershy noticed about then that Alex had his shoes on.

"Are you leaving now?" She asked curiously.

"For the groceries? No. I'm just going out on a walk. It's my exercise for off days." Alex explained.

"Ohh. Would it be alright if I came with you?" Fluttershy asked.

"You want to come with me?" Alex asked in return, looking surprised by this. Fluttershy immediately tried to retract her request.

"I mean, I don't mean to try to push myself onto you. Sorry, it's alright." She said shyly. Alex paused briefly.

"No, it's alright. You can come." He said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, sure." Alex nodded.

"Do you wanna circle the park, or take the forest trail?" Alex offered once they had walked outside. Fluttershy quickly made her choice.

"The forest trail. That sounds nice." She said with a smile. Alex nodded, offering his arm to her.

"Stick your hand through." He said. She did so, and they walked with arms linked where he led her.

"Why are we walking like this?" She asked curiously.

"Just precautionary. Sometimes there's weird people out here in the mornings. Just 'til we get to the trail." He said, loosening his arm some.

"Okay. It's alright, I was just wondering." She said.

"Okay." He said.

The morning air around them was misty from last night's rain showers, and the clouds were still hanging over the sky, casting a bright gray above them. Alex looked up a bit at the clouds as they approached the entrance to the forest trail.

"It's nice out here. Still got the umbrella just in case." Alex said.

"Sounds good. This looks lovely." Fluttershy said, already looking down the trail.

They walked into the trail finally, stepping onto the dirt and clay path. Around them, they could hear the chirping and buzzing of birds and insects. The signs of civilization: houses, cars, and people; they all quickly disappeared behind the rows of trees on either side of them.

Fluttershy took it all in, and very quickly she felt back at home. She smiled a bit and looked around, getting lost in it all. Alex looked at her and noticed her elated expression, and couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"You're the outdoorsy type, huh?" He had to ask.

"Oh yes, I love nature. I love trees and animals. My home is actually in a forest." Fluttershy said.

"That sounds very nice. Secluded and peaceful." He said with a slight smile.

"Mhmm," She hummed and nodded. "It's actually… Never mind." She stopped herself.

"It's actually what?" Alex asked. Fluttershy shook her head.

"Nothing."

"No, it's fine, go ahead." He insisted. She took a breath, then decided to finish her sentence.

"I was going to say that it's actually my cutie mark. But you don't know what that means." She trailed off, starting to get quiet.

"Not at all. Explain it to me."

"Um… I've never had to explain it before. They're basically symbols on your f-flank that represent your passion. Like, mine is three butterflies, and that represents how much I love nature and animals and everything." Fluttershy said, stuttering a little a bit as she put together an explanation on the spot.

"I see. What about Rarity and Rainbow Dash? What would their cutie marks be?" Alex asked.

"Well, Rarity's cutie mark is a diamond because she _loves_ fashion. And gems. She loves gems; diamonds and stuff. She has her own boutique back home, and she likes to put gems into her dresses. They're really nice.

"Rainbow Dash's is a little different. She has a cloud with a lightning bolt coming out of it, and the lightning bolt is red and yellow and blue. See, she was the first pony to ever create a sonic rainboom just by flying, and she's a really good flier, and she's also really confident, so her cutie mark represents all of those things." Fluttershy explained.

"Hmm," Alex nodded. "So, she can fly as a pony? How does that work?"

"Well, there's different kind of ponies. There's earth ponies, like our friends Applejack and Pinkie Pie. There's pegasi, like Rainbow Dash and me. We have wings so we can fly. Then there's unicorns, like Rarity, that can use magic."

"Magic?"

"Mhmm. Do you not have magic?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh, we have magic, but it tends to not be that great. Actually, half of it is downright evil." Alex said honestly. This surprised Fluttershy.

"Oh wow. Well, it's not evil in Equestria. It's used for good things, and is pretty normal." She described.

"I see." Alex nodded. A question suddenly entered Fluttershy's head, and it immediately went from her thoughts to her mouth.

"Why are you asking all these questions?" She asked. She immediately bit her lip back a bit, but Alex didn't see her expression as he began to answer.

"I just want to know more. I've never really heard anyone claim to be magical ponies from another world. Just wanna get the details on that belief, you know?" He answered honestly, doing his best not be insulting in any way.

"But you don't believe us, do you?" Fluttershy asked again, starting to get a little bit defensive. Alex looked at her.

"Would you?" He asked. Fluttershy sighed a bit, and nodded. She looked forward again, not responding immediately.

His honesty in saying that he didn't was tactful, but it still hurt a little bit. She understood why he wouldn't though, which just made it a little more frustrating.

"When Twilight and the others come then we'll show you. We can show you Equestria, and then you'll see." She said with a slight perk in her voice towards the end of her sentence. He picked up a slight rise in excitement in her voice at the thought of this suggestion.

"I guess I'll wait and see then." Alex nodded. Fluttershy nodded as well, looking at him again.

"I think you'll like it." She said.

"I do gotta ask one question though."

"What?" She asked.

"What would my cutie mark be if I had one?" Alex asked curiously.

"I don't know," Fluttershy shrugged. "What are you passionate about?" She asked.

"Music," Alex answered pretty certainly, with little hesitation. "I love music. I've got literally about a thousand songs here." Alex said, holding his phone up. Fluttershy smiled.

"Then probably a music note?" She guessed.

"That sounds about right." He chuckled.

"A thousand songs? That's a lot of songs."

"Heheh, yeah it is. I like to think of myself as a music collector. I'm always getting new songs, and I've got songs for pretty much every mood and genre you can think of, from all over the world." He described.

"That's really cool!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "I'd like to hear some." She said.

"I'll be sure to play some then." He said with a nod.

Alex smiled a bit, not looking at Fluttershy, who smiled a bit as well. After a bit, she spoke up again.

"I know I've already said this, but thank you so much for helping us out. We really can't say it enough." Fluttershy said with a smile.

"Really, it's not that big of a deal. I'm just happy to help."

"Well, it's a big deal for us." She said, hugging his arm a little bit. Alex flinched a bit, almost pulling away.

"You're welcome." He said a bit nervously as they continued on…


	8. Pizza

"Twilight? Twilight, are you in here?" Starlight called out to Twilight as she entered into her library. She was surprised to hear no response, and, upon entering, she was surprised to find that she wasn't anywhere to be found in her library.

All she found was a single open book on the floor in the center of the room, with a note left in between the two open pages. Starlight approached it, and bent her head down to read the note:

_At the schoolhouse. Needed to borrow chalkboard. Come quickly. ~Twilight_

She hummed curiously, wondering what Twilight had possibly uncovered. It didn't take long for her to arrive at the schoolhouse. She entered to find Twilight madly drawing on the chalkboard, seemingly consumed in her thought process again.

"Twilight? I got your note. What are you doing here?" Starlight asked as she entered, shutting the door behind her.

"Oh good, you're here! I had a huge idea last night that might just be the key to figuring all of this out." Twilight said excitedly. It was the most lively she had sounded for over a week.

"That's great! Tell me what your idea is." Starlight said, beginning to look over what Twilight had jotted down. It looked to be some sort of triangular diagram.

"I was thinking that if we could find the exact positioning of when we cast the spell in relation to where the portal opened, we can use it to pinpoint exactly where our friends ended up, and then replicate it so we can follow them." Twilight said.

"Twilight, you're a genius!" Starlight exclaimed, before beginning to consider the matter deeper. "But...that's a lot of factors to consider. The distance between us, then us from the portal, the angle of our spells, where exactly they collided-"

"I know that it's a lot," Twilight spoke up. "But this is the best shot we've had since this happened. I know that if we can figure this out, we can get them back." Twilight said with absolute certainty in her voice. Starlight nodded.

"Well then, bring me up to speed on what you have so far, and let's get our friends back."

"You've _never_ had pizza before? Like, ever?" Alex asked with total disbelief.

"Well, not _never,_ darling, but never from here." Rarity clarified her statement. Alex nodded.

"Ohh, well we might as well fix that. I'll take you to a good spot." He said to them. They all nodded from their positions in the car.

"Sounds good." Rainbow Dash said.

"I look forward to trying it." Fluttershy smiled.

"Ya'll will love it for sure. Is it alright if I put some music on the way there?" Alex asked.

"Of course not. I'd actually like to hear some music here, and see what it's like." Rarity spoke for the group. They all agreed.

Alex put on the radio, and began flipping through his preset stations. He went through 6 channels, changing each and every one, either because he didn't like the song that was playing or because they were broadcasting commercials instead of music.

"Typical. Why is it that they never play music when you _wanna_ hear music? I'm just gonna play some of my music, if that's alright." Alex said.

"Sure! You did say you were gonna share some of your songs with us." Fluttershy reminded him. Alex nodded.

"I did say that, didn't I? Well, then, let me do that real quick." Alex said as he pulled up to a red light. He quickly set to work, pulling a cable out of a compartment in the middle of the car, plugging it into a small circular outlet, and plugging the other end to his phone.

"What kind of music do you have?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

"Oh, all kinds," Alex said generally. He tapped on his phone, and a song was chose. "This one's called ' _Lay It All On Me'._ " Alex said as the song began.

The four of them all grew quiet and began to listen to the song. As the singing began, Alex hummed along a bit, trying not to let it distract. He nodded along as the beat kicked in, and soon they were nodding along to it as well.

"It's quite nice." Rarity said with a smile.

"It's a little mushy. Rhythm's cool though." Rainbow Dash commented. Alex chuckled.

"I like it." Fluttershy said.

Alex began to pull into another parking lot, parking not far from the pizza place that he had promised them. They all got out of the car, and began to approach it. They read the name displayed on it: **Mod's Pizza.**

"Is the pizza here good?" Fluttershy asked.

"Oh yeah, it's good. They use a flame oven, and season the pizza with a sprinkling of sea salt." Alex described, rubbing this fingers together to demonstrate the seasoning of the sea salt.

"That sounds delectable." Rarity said with a nod.

"It is all kinds of delectable." Alex joked with a chuckle, opening the door for them to enter.

The three of them walked into the establishment. It wasn't quite that large, but the atmosphere was quite opening and welcoming. Alex entered in last, standing somewhat behind the group.

"You can go ahead and sit towards the back in the outside area. I'll bring everything out." Alex said to them.

"Are you sure? We can help." Fluttershy said.

"No, it's alright. You go ahead. I won't be long." He said. They all made their way out into the seating area, and sat at a table for four.

"This is nice." Rarity said with a smile.

"Mhmm. It really worked out for us where we ended up." Fluttershy said.

"I agree. What do you think, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked. Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"I was skeptical, but Alex turned out to be pretty alright. At least he's not a creep." She said.

"No, he's actually nice." Fluttershy said with a smile.

"And he's been patient with us and all of our questions. I'm sure they must be strange to him." Rarity added.

"Oh yeah, it's pretty great. I'm just hoping that we're able to go home soon." Rainbow Dash said.

"Yes, me too. I miss my Sweetie Belle terribly, and just everything and everypony else." Rarity said.

"And I'm sure Angel Bunny must be worried sick about me." Fluttershy said.

"I hope Tank is alright. I always have extra food for him just in case, but he needs to go out." Rainbow Dash said in line with the others' thoughts.

The door opened, and Alex came out with four small pizza boxes stacked in one hand leaning against his body. In his other hand, he held a large pitcher of a dark brown liquid. He set them down on the table.

"I still need the cups and napkins. Be right back." He said, leaving them again and going back inside.

"What is this?" Rarity wondered aloud, looking at the liquid inside of the pitcher curiously. The others did the same.

"It looks like really dirty water." Fluttershy commented.

"It's bubbling." Rainbow Dash added.

Alex came out again with four cups and a small stack of napkins in his hands. He distributed them evenly, and took his seat next to Rainbow Dash.

"Heyyy." He greeted them as he sat.

"Hey, Alex? What's this stuff?" Fluttershy asked, tapping a finger on the pitcher.

"Coke. Soda." Alex said, pouring himself a cup.

"Is it good?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Try it." He said, gesturing to it. They all eyed it warily.

Rarity was the first to take it, her hands shaky and uncertain as she mimicked how Alex held it. As she started to tip it, she took her other hand off the cup and put it on the pitcher for extra support. She slowly poured it into the cup, spilling a small amount outside the cup as her hands wobbled.

Rainbow Dash was the next to try and pour it. She took it, her hands steadier as she pulled it to her much more abruptly. She slowly began to tip it, and it slowly came out, much too slow for her liking. She tipped it over much faster, and the force of it tipped the cup over, spilling soda on the table.

Alex quickly reacted with a shriek, taking the pitcher from her and getting to his feet. He grabbed some of the napkins and began to clean up the soda that hadn't fallen through the holes in the metal table to the floor.

"Shoot, sorry..." Rainbow Dash said sheepishly, blushing in embarrassment.

"No, it's fine. I'll get a refill." He said after he had cleaned the mess up. He left with the half-filled pitcher.

"Perhaps you could attempt to use a bit more finesse next time, darling?" Rarity suggested gently.

"I mean, it's not like I've ever done this before." Rainbow Dash defended her mistake.

Alex came back and sat down again with a full pitcher of soda, and poured their cups for them this time.

"Sorry about that." Rainbow Dash said again.

"It's alright. It happens." Alex said, apparently not thinking much of it. They nodded, and decided to move on from it, sipping their soda.

"Oh, it has a kick to it." Rarity said.

"Mhmm. It's good though." Alex chuckled.

"Could you give us our pizzas? I'm starving." Rainbow Dash asked.

"Right, yeah! Here." He handed each of them a box, opening it up for them and pushing it in front of them. They all had cheese pizzas.

"Ooh, it does look good." Fluttershy said.

"Dig in, everyone," Alex said, rubbing his hands together and beginning to eat his own pepperoni pizza. "It should be cooled down by now."

"Awesome... Hey, Alex?" Rainbow Dash turned her head to look at him.

"Mhmm?" He hummed.

"Um... We were all talking just now, and...we just wanted to thank you again for all you've been doing to help us out. I mean, I know we've said it a million times already, but I wanted to say it too again. We really do appreciate it." She said with a warm smile.

"Yeah," Alex nodded, smiling back. "It's no problem at all."


	9. Video Games

“Hey, thanks again for this man, I really owe you for this.” Alex said.

“Yeah yeah, and yes you do. But if I wake up and find that those girls stole something, I’mma be really upset!”

“Heheh, you don’t gotta worry about it. If they were gonna pull something like that, they had ample opportunity to. They truly need help.” Alex said sincerely.

“Yeah, I see that. I’ll have rooms ready for them when you bring them tomorrow.”

“Thanks again, man. I’ll call you again tomorrow afternoon when I’m on my way. Bye.”

“Bye.”

Alex hung up the phone, and slipped it into his pajama pocket. He sighed a bit, standing there silently for a few moments before pulling the door open and coming back out into the living room, where the girls were all sitting on the couch waiting for him.

“Is everything alright?” Rarity asked.

“You left really suddenly.” Fluttershy voiced what she had observed; they had sat down, and just as Alex was about to show them something, he received a call on his phone, and quickly retreated to his bedroom privately.

“Yeah, sorry. It was my job calling. They want me to come in and work tomorrow night.” Alex explained.

“Where do you work?” Fluttershy asked.

“I work in the hospital as a nurse. The schedule can be really hectic, and I work a lot of night shifts.” He answered, explaining further.

“Ohh.” She nodded.

“So everything’s alright now?” Rarity asked again. Alex tilted his head a little bit.

“Yeah. I made a call, so you’ll be staying with my friend Evan for a little bit while I go to work the next few days.” He revealed to them.

“I see. Is that alright with him?” Rarity asked to verify. Alex nodded.

“Yeah. I explained the general situation to him, just let him know it would only be for like two days, and then afterwards he’ll take you back here.” Alex explained the plan to them. They nodded.

“Is he nice?” Fluttershy asked. Alex nodded.

“Uhuh. He’s a lot like me, just weirder,” He joked with a chuckle before shaking his head. “Nah, you’ll be taken care of with him. Just…leave the Equestria part out.” He advised.

“Understood.” Rainbow Dash nodded.

“We don’t want to scare anypony.” Fluttershy said.

“Pony… Anyways, I was gonna show you this game.” Alex said, turning his TV on and getting up again.

“What sort of game is it?” Rarity asked.

“Video game. Virtual game, if you will. It’s called _‘Sonic Forces’_.” Alex said.

“Sonic Forces?” Rainbow Dash repeated.

“It sounds kind of like sonic rainboom.” Fluttershy said with a small giggle.

“Well, there’s no rainbow, but it is a sonic boom for sure.” Alex said.

“What’s it about?” Rarity asked.

“Hmm…” Alex hummed thoughtfully, trying to find a way to effectively explain it without revealing too much about the story of the game,

“It’s about Sonic the hedgehog. He’s a blue creature able to run as fast as the speed of sound itself. Together with his friends, he protects his world, Moebius, from the evil Dr. Eggman, a scientist and builder of ridiculously large and deadly robots.” Alex summarized.

“That sounds interesting.” Fluttershy commented.

“Does it have a lot of action?” Rainbow Dash asked, her interest beginning to peak.

“Oh yeah, it’s almost solely composed of action. It’s a fast-paced story, ‘cause you know, super fast main character.” Alex answered.

“Sounds like you, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity giggled.

Alex proceeded to turn the game on. The screen lit up, and Alex selected the game. The screen went black, and the opening title screen came on after a little bit. Alex hummed a little bit, and then asked the three girls a question.

“Do you just want to see some levels, or do you actually want to go through the story of the game?” He posed the choice to them. They all gave this some thought.

“Would it be a lot of trouble to do the story? I’m curious.” Rarity admitted. Alex shook his head.

“Oh, not at all. We could actually go through the whole story of the game in…hmm…it’s 7 right now…we could get it done before midnight. Like 4 hours max.” Alex said.

“Oh, well let’s do the story then!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. The other girls agreed.

“I’m fine with seeing the story.” Fluttershy said.

Alex nodded, and selected to start a new game. They waited for it to start up. They were surprised when, rather than seeing some kind of opening sequence, the display for the first level came up, and it immediately began by cutting to Sonic running through the level’s beginning.

“Woah!!!” They all exclaimed in amazement, making Alex flinch a bit before continuing on.

“You were right, it is fast!” Fluttershy said.

“It looks so fascinating! I’ve never seen anything like it!” Rarity commented as well.

“Is that Sonic?” Rainbow Dash asked, pointing to the main character in the center of the screen. Alex nodded.

“Sure is.” He answered with a bit of a grin.

“Awesome. He’s almost as fast as me.” Rainbow Dash said with some confidence. Alex chuckled at this.

“You sure about that? I think he could take ya.” Alex laughed a bit.

“Sure you say that, but that’s only because you haven’t seen me fly top speed.” Rainbow Dash responded.

“Like this?” Alex asked, hitting a button. Sonic immediately shot forward, running almost twice as fast. His surroundings all became a rapid blur as he boosted much faster.

Rainbow Dash’s expression dropped a bit, and her lip creased.

“Oh, shoot.”

“Haha! You might be out of the running in this one.” Alex laughed.

“I must admit, I think that Sonic here might just be faster than you, darling.” Rarity said with a giggle.

“Well, pssh, maybe, but he’s not real, soooo...” Rainbow Dash said, folding her arms and tilting her head up pridefully.

“It’s okay, Rainbow Dash. I think you’re the fastest.” Fluttershy said with a smile.

“Yeah, she thinks you’re the fastest.” Alex chimed in, patting her shoulder both playfully and teasingly.

“Shut up.” She stuck her tongue out at him, which just made him laugh again.

***

Alex was not exaggerating when he said that it would take about 4 hours of so. 11 pm was rolling around now, and now Rainbow Dash and Alex were the only ones that were still awake. They were determined to finish the game tonight.

They were now in the final set of levels, the final battles of the game. Rainbow Dash, after practicing on some earlier levels, was now willing to try some of the current levels herself. With Alex’s knowledge of the game and coaching throughout, she had managed her way to the final battle against the game’s villain: Infinite.

“You’re doing good. Don’t worry too much about your boost unless you see the cubes coming in behind you.” Alex instructed.

“Got it,” She said, attempting to attack him. However, just as before, she was unsuccessful in laying a finger on him. She grunted a bit in frustration. “My attack isn’t hitting him.”

“Just worry about dodging the pillars he puts in front of you. Focus on that, and then your chance to attack will open up.” Alex said.

Rainbow Dash nodded a bit, beginning to jump over the obstacles that the boss laid before her. She jumped and side-stepped them well, drawing closer to him. Alex pointed to the screen.

“That’s it. Attack now.” Alex said. Rainbow Dash pressed the jump button twice, and laid a successful hit.

“Yes.” She hissed with a grin.

“Keep it up. You got this clown now.” He said. Rainbow Dash continued the battle, and though it was a bit back and forth, she came out with the victory.

“You got him.” Alex said with a grin, spreading his arms out towards the TV excitedly.

“Awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed at full volume. She immediately began to cringe and shrink back, realizing that Rarity and Fluttershy were still asleep.

Alex, seeing Rainbow Dash’s quick expression changes, had to hold back the urge to laugh hard, and instead wore a strained grin, and had to double over just a bit in order to keep his laughter in. Rainbow Dash chuckled a bit, not understanding his extreme reaction.

“It wasn’t that funny.” She said with a chuckle.

“Heheh, it was,” Alex said, speaking between trying to catch his breath without letting any loud snickers break through. “It was just cute, and it’s harder ‘cause I can’t laugh out loud.” He explained, not quite realizing what he had said.

“Cute?” Rainbow Dash repeated, blushing suddenly. That caught her completely off guard. Alex saw that, and immediately tried to fix his statement.

“Well, I mean, it was a cute moment.” Alex stuttered, trying to save it.

“Sure, I guess?” Rainbow Dash responded. There was an awkward silence between them.

“Um… Oh look!” Alex pointed to the screen as another cutscene began. They both focused on the game again, relieved that the moment was passing.

They approached the final boss, and Rainbow Dash groaned a bit upon seeing that the fight wasn’t over yet. She took on the first part of the fight, and again Alex coached Rainbow Dash through the first part of it.

“Knock the rocks back by jumping. See…now.” He said. Rainbow Dash did as he instructed, inflicting damage onto Eggman’s robot that served as the final boss.

“Nice. Now he’s gonna do a sweeping move with his laser. Jump when you hear the sound.”

“Got it.” Rainbow Dash said, listening for it. She reacted when she heard it, but pressed the button too late, and was hit by it.

“That’s okay, that’s okay. Shake it off. Jump now.” He said quickly. She did so, and dodged it this time, able to attack again afterwards.

The game switched after one of Rainbow’s attack, suddenly switching to a different character. Alex held his hand out, speaking quickly.

“Pass it to me. I’ll take this part.” He said. Rainbow Dash quickly passed it to him.

Alex’s focus zeroed in on the game, and he began to work at a faster, more experienced pace. With seemingly little effort, he dodged missiles and destroyed robots at the simple press of a button. The floor beneath him began to break, and he simply jumped to safety, all within the span of 30 short seconds.

“Oh wow,” Rainbow Dash sighed. “You’re really good at this.” She said, sounding genuinely impressed.

“It’s all just practice.” He said with a bit of a chuckle, rapidly tapping buttons to do damage and also not be hit. It quickly transitioned again, and Alex handed the controller back to Rainbow Dash.

“This is all you. Do the same thing as with the Infinite fight. You got this.” He said encouragingly as she took the controller from him.

“Gotcha.” She said, setting to work. She dodged the attacks, getting used to the difference in speed. Soon she was landing hit after hit, and the boss’ health bar descended quickly with time.

“Tap Y.” Alex instructed as a large Y button appeared onscreen. Rainbow Dash began to tap it as quickly as she could, and the characters burst right through the robot with style.

“Nice!” Alex said, allowing his excitement to overtake him in that moment, and exclaiming this at full volume.

“Shh!” Rainbow Dash shushed him with a chuckle.

Alex, upon realizing he had made the same mistake, quickly clapped a hand over his mouth, and his eyes shut as he began to laugh at himself in the same trying-to-be quiet manner. Rainbow Dash, apparently having the same reaction as Alex, had to cover her own mouth to keep from doing the same.

“Oops.” Alex giggled once they had both calmed down some. Rainbow Dash grinned at him, and chuckled again.

“You’re an idiot.” She said with a wide smile.

“True.” Alex comically agreed, smiling too.

There was another awkward silence between them as they found themselves staring at each other, smiling, but with nothing else to say. As the game came to a close, Alex cleared his throat and began to shut everything off.

“Um, well I should go to bed, since I have work tomorrow.”

“Yeah, yeah, me too. This was fun.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Yeah, it was. We’ll have to do it again with another game. I’ve got plenty more. Just, you know, not this late.” Alex said.

“Haha, right.”

“Goodnight, Rainbow Dash.” Alex said as he made his way to his bedroom.

“Goodnight, Alex.” She replied, waving to him as he retreated back into his room, slowly closing the door behind him…


	10. Evan

"Are you alright, Alex? You look a little out of it." Rainbow Dash asked him. Alex nodded, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove them.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just still waking up is all. I'mma get some more sleep when I get home before I go to work." He said.

"Did you not sleep well last night?" Rarity asked with some concern.

"I slept fine. It's just that this shift I'm working is an overnight shift, I get off at like 3 in the morning, so I'm getting my sleep now so I don't pass out." Alex explained. The three girls' reactions all made known their concerns.

"Oh my, that doesn't sound very good." Fluttershy said. Alex shrugged.

"It's not that bad." He said before pulling his car up into the driveway of a house. The three girls all looked up at it.

"Is this your friend Evan's house?" Rarity asked.

"Yep. I'm gonna go get him real quick, make sure that everything is here. Just wait here for a minute." Alex said before getting out of the car.

Alex made his way around to the front door of the house and rang the doorbell. After a few moments, Evan, a guy about Alex's age but slightly taller, with dark skin and short, curly hair, answered the door wearing a tank top and baggy pants. Old hip-hop music played from inside.

"Oh shoot, you're early man." Evan said, slightly surprised to see him.

"Clearly. What're you cooking?" Alex asked, smelling the food inside.

"Cocaine. You know how it is." Evan joked as the two bro-hugged. Alex chuckled.

"Spare me some after work. I'll need it."

"Sure thing man. Did you bring the girls?" Evan asked. Alex nodded.

"That sounds weird," He laughed. "Yeah, they're waiting in the car."

"That sounds just as weird," Evan responded. "Let me throw on a shirt real quick, but they can come in." Evan said. Alex nodded.

"Alright. Thanks man. I owe you for this!" He said, rushing back to the car. The girls all perked as he approached, and he gestured them to get out. They did so.

"All good?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yep. He has to take care of some personal stuff real quick, but he says you can come in. Just close the door behind you, and I'll see you in a few days." He said with his hands hanging from his pockets.

Alex expected them to just go on into the house, so he was caught off guard when each of the girls came and hugged him one after the other, and thanking him as well. He nodded and managed a smile as they all waved goodbye and entered into the house.

Once they entered into the lower lit home, they began to wander the living room, curiously looking around. The floors were darker, and the living room and kitchen were next to each other rather than in the same space, giving the house a larger feel.

"Well, this is nice. It certainly feels like a home." Rarity commented as they sat down on the couch, their backs to the staircase. The other two hummed in agreement.

"I hope that Alex's friend is nice too." Fluttershy said.

"And not weird." Rainbow Dash said.

"You expect everypony to be weird here, Rainbow Dash." Rarity said. Rainbow Dash chuckled a little bit.

Evan finally came on after throwing on a baggy sweater. He hopped down from the stairs, and noticed the three girls' heads all on his couch. He cleared his throat to get their attention. They turned to look at him, and then all got up to greet him.

"You must be Evan. We can't thank you enough for opening your home up to us." Rarity said, approaching him and giving him a shaky handshake; her first attempt at one.

"No problem, you're welcome. Um, so you already know me, I'm Evan. What're you three's names?" He asked.

"My name is Rarity." She answered first. The other two delivered similarly unsure handshakes as they introduced themselves.

"I'm Rainbow Dash."

"And I'm Fluttershy. It's very nice to meet you." She said with a smile that took Evan off guard.

"Hehhh, nice to meet you all t-too. I, uh, I'm making dinner. Hope you like pasta." He said, going into the kitchen. They followed him.

"I like pasta." Fluttershy said.

"We all do," Rarity said with a small chuckle. "So, Evan, how did you and Alex become friends?" She asked.

"Oh, we met at a meeting when he first moved down here. Since we saw each other every so often, we started talking. We invited his family to a party we were having, and that's when we became friends." Evan recounted after thinking back for a bit.

"That's really nice." Rarity said with a smile.

"Yeah. We've been friends a long time now. How'd you three meet him? 'Cause you're the first girls he's ever sprung on me like this, thankfully." Evan asked.

The three girls all hesitated, looking at each other and unsure how to answer. The true answer wouldn't sound good at all, because it wasn't, but they couldn't avoid the question; it was too pertinent. Fluttershy did her best to answer for the group.

"It was really just a coincidence of circumstances, and-and our paths just crossed his. When we told him that we were lost and had nowhere to stay, he agreed to help us." Fluttershy explained slowly, choosing her words carefully. Evan nodded.

"Well, I've never seen him do something like that before, but it is good. We're happy to help the best we can." Evan said, stirring his pot of pasta.

"And we're grateful for it." Rarity said with a smile. Evan nodded.

"Of course. So what happened to you three? You got lost, was it?"

"Stranded really. We're waiting on our friends to pick us up so they can take us home." Rarity answered.

"Until then, we have almost nothing except some clothes and other stuff that Alex got for us." Rainbow Dash added. Evan cringed a bit.

"Yeesh. I see what Alex meant when he said ya'll needed help." He nodded.

"We really do." Fluttershy said with a sigh.

"So, where is home for ya'll three?" Evan asked suddenly. This time, they were ready to answer.

"A place called Equestria." Rainbow Dash answered quickly.

"Equestria, huh? Never heard of it. Where is that?"

"Another country." Rarity answered.

"Oh, so you're _far_ from home, huh?"

"Very far from home. I miss it." Fluttershy admitted.

Evan then proceeded to serve them their dinner: spaghetti with a homemade sauce. He served them their food, and gave them water and tea to drink. They all sat in the kitchen table and ate.

"This food's pretty good." Rainbow Dash said with a nod.

"It's a little on the spicy side. May I have some more water?" Rarity asked politely. Evan nodded, getting her a refill from the fridge.

"Do you live here by yourself too?" Fluttershy asked him curiously, noticing some pictures of what appeared to be Evan's family over in the living room. Evan shook his head, sitting down again.

"No, my family also lives here. They're just all out on a trip right now. I was sick so I had to stay behind. They should be coming back in like 2 or 3 days." Evan answered. They all nodded.

"Oh okay. Will we get to meet them?" Fluttershy asked. Evan shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe another time." He answered. They ate in silence for a little longer, so Rarity decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, Evan, you said you had Alex over to a party when you two met? Do you host a lot of parties here?" She asked.

"Every once in awhile, yeah. We open up the living room for dancing, we have speakers for music, and a microphone for singing." Evan explained their layout. They all 'ooh-ed' as they looked at the setup.

"That sounds like a lot of fun! I definitely wouldn't mind coming to one of those." Rainbow Dash said with an elated expression.

"It really is a lot of fun, especially when we get a good group together." Evan said.

"Do you dance and sing?" Fluttershy asked him. Evan tilted his head a little bit.

"I dance, and I sing a little bit, but not too too much. Now, Alex though, _he can sing._ " Evan said. The girls' heads all perked in curiosity.

"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oho, yeah, he dances too. He just doesn't say much about it. He usually keeps it on the down low. I didn't even know it until he came to our party. He blew everyone away man. He got everyone going with his dancing, and caught everyone off guard when he went up and sang.

"It was funny actually, because the song he chose, my Dad pulled it up and it didn't work right, so he had to sing it _again,_ and he _still_ was able to get everyone back into it." Evan told them the story with a laugh.

"Wowww. I'd like to hear that." Rarity said with a chuckle.

"Me too." Rainbow Dash agreed.

"It makes sense. He did say he has a lot of music." Fluttershy said.

"Oh yeah, we're the same way with music. I like to make music a little bit, and he has a ridiculous amount of songs. Like, it's ridiculous. I'd say he's the better singer and dancer though." Evan said.

"I'd like to see you both dance." Fluttershy said to him. Evan glanced at her, and then looked away a bit awkwardly.

"Well, I mean, that'd be pretty cool. Maybe at some point." He said.

They finished their food, and afterward Evan took them upstairs and showed them all to their rooms. They all had their own rooms this time.

"You can take my siblings' rooms for the time being." He said.

"We don't have to if that would be too much trouble. I mean, I can take the couch again." Rainbow Dash said, trying to be nice.

"You were sleeping on the couch? With Alex?" Evan asked. Rainbow Dash nodded.

" _What a gentleman._ " Evan thought to himself.

"Well, I've got enough beds, so it's no problem. Besides, they're not here to say no. So you can all take a room. My room is this one at the end of the hall if you need anything. Bathroom is this door here. Oh, and that's my parents' room there. _Do not enter it._ " Evan said with extra emphasis.

"Understood." Rarity said with a nod. They all nodded.

"Alright. Well, I'll leave you guys for now. I'll be in my room. Goodnight." He said with a wave.

"Goodnight, Evan." Fluttershy said. The rest said their goodnights as well, and they all retired to their separate rooms…


	11. Kit-Kat

Rainbow Dash curiously picked up a plastic bag filled with various types of die. Her eyebrows furrowed and her nose crinkled as she looked closely at some of them, trying to figure out why anyone would need dice of such strange shapes and in such a large amount.

"Hey, Evan?" She called out. Evan perked his head up from his laptop.

"Yeah?"

"What are all these for?" She asked, holding the bag out towards him. He walked over, and instantly recognized the bag of die.

"Oh, these are dice. I use them for my RPG's." He answered, placing them carefully back where she had found them.

"RPG's?" Fluttershy, who was nearby, repeated slowly.

"What are those?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Role-Playing Games. They're, you know, games where you create your own characters and stats, and then you act out those characters in a story-based game." Evan explained in the simplest of turns.

"Oh, like Ogres and Oubliettes!" Fluttershy said.

"Like a-what now?"

"It's a game that some of our friends play back home," Rainbow Dash said. "It sounds like you have basically the same thing with this."

"Ohh okay. Well yeah, that's what it is. Although, I don't really like the pre-designed ones, since they tend to turn out pretty basic, so I like to design my own RPG's." Evan said.

"Really? How do you do that?" Fluttershy asked.

"Patience," Evan chuckled. "What I do is firstly I give the players a setting; say medieval or Star Wars. Then, I let them come up with their own characters, the personalities and the stats and all, and depending on what they all give me, I start building a story for them all that way.

"It usually takes like weeks of planning and world-building, but when we are able to get together and do it, it usually turns out to be fun." Evan said with a nod.

"Ooh, that does sound like fun." Fluttershy said with a smile.

"I wouldn't mind trying something like that." Rarity joined in, coming in from the living room.

"You'd probably like it. I try to make it easy for people who aren't used to that sort of game, and we have snacks and joke around. Plus, I get music and sound effects to help make the game more immersive." Evan said.

"You really go all out with it, huh?" Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle.

Evan nodded silently in response. His attention was pulled away by the sound of faint scratching at his front door. He made his way over and opened the door, and knelt down to pet a black and white cat at the door.

"What's up, girl? You hungry? Of course you are, always so demanding." Evan said with a chuckle, getting up to get some food.

Fluttershy's attention was captured by the house cat, and she immediately sped past Evan to see the cat for herself. She let it sniff her, and was soon petting it and carrying it in her arms with a wide smile.

"What a cute little kitty." Fluttershy giggled, scratching the back of its head soothingly.

"Oh yeah. That is Kit-Kat, our outdoor pet. She's cool, just don't take her inside." Evan said.

"That's fine. That's such a cute name. Kit-Kat." Fluttershy said with another laugh, her full attention being overtaken by the cat.

"There she goes." Rainbow Dash chuckled, teasing her.

"Fluttershy is a very big animal enthusiast." Rarity explained, speaking on Fluttershy's behalf since she was too distracted to do so herself.

"Ah yeah, really?" Evan asked.

"Mhmm. She loves all animals. You name it: dogs, cats, snakes, turtles, bunnies, bears, hamsters." Rainbow Dash listed off.

"Oh my," Evan said. "Dang man, bears and snakes too? That's pretty hardcore." He chuckled.

"Is it?" Rarity asked. However, Evan just groaned and changed the subject.

"I'm out of cat food." He sighed.

"Oh no. But this poor little kitty is hungry." Fluttershy said.

"I'll have to go pick some up real quick." He said, going to get his keys.

"Can I bring Kit-Kat along?" Fluttershy requested, cradling the cat fondly in her arms. Evan simply shrugged.

"Sure. You're welcome to tag along."

"Give us a moment to grab our shoes then." Rarity said. They all left to get ready to go, which Evan found odd.

"Okay then." He said to himself.

"So, is it cool if I play some music?" Evan asked, glancing over at Fluttershy in the passenger seat, who was still fondly petting Kit-Kat, but his question was directed to all three of them.

"Sure. Alex played some music for us too when we were driving around." Rainbow Dash answered.

"Oh, I'm sure he did," Evan chuckled. "I assume he played pretty upbeat music?"

"Yeah…? What's wrong with that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh, nothing, it's just that we about to chill out." Evan said with a chuckle, putting his music in. His first song choice was Redbone by Childish Gambino. Upon putting it on, he laid back in his seat with an elbow leaning slightly out the window.

The three girls all listened curiously. Once the singing began, their eyebrows all furrowed strangely, and the longer that the song went on, the more unsure they were as to how to feel about it. Meanwhile, Evan, however, was vocalizing some of the instrumental parts.

"This is interesting." Fluttershy said with a tilt of her head, not really leaning for or against it in any way.

"The lady singing sounds rather strange." Rarity commented.

"Probably because it's a guy." Evan said.

"That's a guy?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah man! That's _the_ guy, Childish Gambino! This dude is for real." Evan said with a laugh.

"'For real' regarding what, exactly?" Rarity asked.

Suddenly, as Evan was coming into a turn, a car sped past them. Evan gasped, hitting the brakes and honking his horn. He began to drive forward again.

"You have gotta be kidding me today dude!" Evan shouted.

"Some of these are quite reckless with their cars." Rarity commented.

"Tell me about it. Go back to driving school, idiots." Evan said with a slight raise in his voice.

Evan pulled his car into the parking lot of a store called PetSmart, and parked his car close to the entrance. The three girls all eyed it curiously as they got up.

"Oh, Fluttershy, you should probably leave her in the car, just in case." He said. Fluttershy hesitated to do so, but gently set Kit-Kat down in the passenger seat before closing the door. Evan locked it, and they started walking towards the store.

"There's quite a few stores here with 'Mart' in the name." Rarity observed aloud.

"Like Wal-Mart and PetSmart?" Evan asked.

"Yes." Rarity nodded.

"I think those are the only two. I can't think of any others." Evan hummed as they entered the store. He looked at his phone to see the time.

"Alright, so let's split this up maybe, so we're not here too long. Um, Fluttershy, since you're into animals, you can help me get some food for Kit-Kat. Rainbow and Rarity, think you could pick out a nice cat toy or two?" Evan asked. They nodded.

"Sure thing, darling." Rarity answered with a smile.

"Great. We'll meet you once we pick out food. We'll be in aisle 6 if you beat us."

"Got it." Rainbow Dash nodded. With that, they went their separate ways.

"So, Fluttershy, um…you have pets?" Evan asked as they went to the cat food aisle. Fluttershy nodded.

"I do, I have several, but Angel Bunny is the one I take care of the most. The rest come and go." Fluttershy answered.

"Angel Bunny? That's adorable." Evan chuckled.

"Yes, he is," She giggled, her expression suddenly become more solemn. "Goodness, I hope he's doing okay. I hope Discord's been taking care of him." She thought out loud.

"I'm sure he's alright…" Evan said, clearing his throat and finding something else to say. "You must care a lot about animals."

"Definitely." Fluttershy nodded.

"Is it just animals, or nature in general?" Evan asked.

"I love nature. I actually have a nice cottage in the woods; that's where I live. It's not too far from P…from town, and it's a peaceful walk through the forest to get there." Fluttershy said, thinking back to it with a fond look in her eyes.

"That sounds really peaceful and quiet." Evan said.

"It really is. You'd love it." Fluttershy said.

"Do you think so?" Evan asked, looking over at her. There was a slight pause between them, and Fluttershy nodded slowly.

"Yeah… Maybe one day you can come over and see it, and I can show you all the animals, and you can meet Angel Bunny." Fluttershy offered. Evan tilted his head and nodded.

"I think that'd be fun." He said in agreement.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but don't you live really far?" Evan asked.

"Yeah…right…" Fluttershy trailed off.

For a moment, she considered being more up front with him about where she and the others were really from, but another moment later she thought better of it, knowing that doing so would only make them out to seem strange, and it could even cause him to suddenly turn on them, like Alex almost did.

Still, keeping the secret was difficult for her, especially since Evan and Alex seemed to be truly nice people. They were strange, yes, unique, but she had come to enjoy their company; she appreciated Alex's kindness, and she found Evan's interests to be fascinating and different.

As hard as it was to be so far away from home, the idea of having to part with what she was coming to know in this world was becoming increasingly harder for her to think about…


	12. Incident

"Do you eat a lot of spicy foods?" Fluttershy asked Evan. He nodded.

"Yeah, I do. It's just kind of a family thing." Evan answered.

"I can tell," Fluttershy giggled. "A lot of the foods we've had lately are really good and kind of spicy."

"I have enjoyed the variety though." Rarity said with a smile.

"Yeah, it's good." Rainbow Dash said with a nod.

They were all digging into some local Chinese food that Evan had picked up from a nearby store. Although the past two days thus far had been not very eventful, they had enjoyed the calmness and the change of pace, as well as Evan's considerate hospitality.

"You know, at first, when Alex called me and told me that he had three girls bunking in his little apartment, I honestly thought: 'What sort of trouble did this guy get himself into?'"

"Without context, I certainly could understand. I'd probably be thinking the same thing." Rarity nodded with understanding.

"Yeah, but I get it now. I really do. You three are pretty alright. Definitely not what I expected, but in a good way, you know?"

"Thank you. We appreciate it." Fluttershy said with a smile. The other girls nodded with the same sentiment.

"It's been really difficult for us these past few days, with all that's been going on. We really do appreciate both you and Alex going through such great lengths to help us out here. It really does mean a lot; we don't know how to repay you." Rarity spoke for the group. The girls again all nodded in agreement.

"You don't have to worry about that, really. We wouldn't ask for anything." Evan said.

The moment was interrupted just then by the front door being opened. Strangely, Evan stood up and turned around. He wasn't expecting this at all. He walked to the door, and was shocked to find that his mother had just come into the house.

"Uh, M-Mom! You're home early." He stuttered. His Mom nodded with a slight smile and chuckle as she entered.

"Yeah, I am. I was just wiped out and decided to come home before the rest of the group." She said as she came in.

She walked into the hallway leading to the living room and kitchen, and it was there that she first caught sight of Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. They all froze for a moment, staring at each other. Evan's mother scoffed in disbelief.

"What in the world is going on here right now?" She demanded. Evan began to try and stutter up an answer, but the girls began to speak.

"Are you Evan's mother?" Rarity asked politely.

"I am. And who are you three?" She asked, folding her arms.

"Um, I'm Rarity. This is Fluttershy. And that's Rainbow Dash. You see, um-"

"What kind of names are those? Evan, what is this, paid company? Are you serious?" She shouted back at Evan, who quietly stood slightly behind her.

"You see, um, miss, we had nowhere else to go, and his friend Alex asked him if we could stay here for just two days, and he agreed to let us stay for just a bit." Rainbow Dash explained nervously.

"Alex? What has Alex got to do with this?" She asked.

"Well, um, ma'am, he was the one that they were originally staying with until they could be picked up by their friends. They're stranded here, and they were staying with him, but he had to work, so he asked if I could help for two days as she said, and I-I agreed." Evan explained, hardly able to breathe in.

Evan's mother let out a forceful exhale from her nostrils, shaking her head. It was as if she was so infuriated that she couldn't even find words with which to respond to this.

"We really didn't mean to intrude, miss. We just have nowhere else to go. We're really sorry." Fluttershy said softly, being as polite and respectful as she could. She waited as Evan's mother stared her down, and her eyes fell to the ground timidly.

"You brought in homeless girls to my home without permission. Where've they been sleeping for these past two days?" She questioned.

"The other bedrooms."

"Your _siblings_ ' bedrooms. You gave your siblings' beds to strangers." Evan's mother phrased the action in a much more negative light.

"Honestly, he was just trying to help." Rainbow Dash defended him. Evan's mother held up a finger, and Rainbow Dash shrunk back.

"We will talk about this when your father gets home. You said they were staying with Alex?" Evan asked.

"Yeah." Evan said quietly.

"Take them back there." She ordered him. Evan nodded with a sigh.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Are you in trouble, Evan?" Fluttershy asked worriedly, curling her fingers and rubbing her nails against her chin. Evan sighed heavily.

"Yeah, probably," Evan said honestly, not even trying to play it off. "But I'll talk with them when I get home, and we'll get this all sorted out." He said.

"We're really sorry to cause all this trouble." Rarity said, crossing her arms on her lap.

"I don't understand why she's so mad though. You were just tryna help." Rainbow Dash said with more confusion and aggravation than anything else.

"Yeah, but it just _looks_ really bad, especially since I didn't say anything, that was my mistake."

"What about it looks disturbing, dear?" Rarity asked, trying to follow but not fully understanding.

"Well, you know, a guy with some girls, no one else there. It looks…bad, you know?" Evan said, trying not get too specific. The other girls caught on, and all cringed simultaneously.

"That makes no sense at all." Rainbow Dash said.

"That's really awful to think about." Fluttershy shook her head.

"Yeah it sucks, but that's just the first tendency everyone jumps to. And, I mean, why wouldn't they? Like, just for example, us right now in this car. Now, maybe if Alex was driving he could get away with it, maybe, but someone my skin color behind the wheel, well now it looks like an operation instead of just what it is." Evan described.

"That's not fair." Fluttershy said, her nose scrunching up with a deep frown.

"It never is." Evan responded with a sigh.

They finally pulled into Alex's apartment and all began to get out. They made their way towards the door.

"Is Alex home?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"He should be. He got off his shift some time ago, but he's probably sleeping, so just be quiet." Evan advised them. They nodded.

"Thank you for helping us, and we're really sorry." Fluttershy said, hugging him. The others did so as well.

"We hope that you don't get into too much." Rarity said, unable to find any other words.

Evan nodded silently, kneeling down and picking a key from underneath Alex's doormat. He unlocked the door for them and opened it.

"It's alright. Just let Alex know what happened. I'll probably need his help to get this all sorted out." Evan requested. They nodded.

"We'll let him know right away."

"Thanks. Bye." Evan said, waving them off and beginning to walk back to his car.

"Bye, Evan." Fluttershy said. They all waved him off and entered.

They were greeted with a new eeriness to Alex's apartment when they entered. All of the lights were off, and it was totally silent. Even the scent was different, as if it no one had been inside lately. They flipped a switch on and closed the door behind them, all exchanging glances.

"I thought he was supposed to be home." Rainbow Dash said.

"I suppose not. Get the lock, Fluttershy." Rarity pointed to the door.

The bedroom door opened, and Alex's voice called out weakly and raspy from the door.

"Hello?" He called out.

"Alex, you're here! Good, we thought for a moment that you hadn't come back yet." Rarity said.

"No no, I've been home. Just sleeping." Alex said as he started trudging down the hall towards them.

"Sleeping? But it's only noon." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Yeah. I worked two overnights back to back." Alex said, finally reaching the kitchen area, where they could now see him much more clearly.

His hair was in total disarray, shuffled in messy patches and pressed against his head. His eyes, which were only barely open, had dark circles underneath. Overall, his expression and posture showed just how worn out and tired he really was.

"Goodness, you need to go back and rest. You look awful." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, I know. What happened? Evan was supposed to bring you back…tonight…" Alex said, taking a moment to remember, and yawning.

"We can talk about it later. Just go back to bed." Rainbow Dash said, urging him back. Alex nodded.

"Alright." Alex said, making his way back with a sigh, and shutting the door behind him…


	13. Appearances

"Mhmm…listen, I am _really_ sorry that this all happened. I won't take them over there again. We'll figure this out. I'll-I'll-I'll talk to your Mom too, we can approach her together and just lay it all out." Alex suggested, rubbing his forehead anxiously.

"That's about the best we can manage. Considering how things looked, she might take more drastic measures if we don't calm her down, and you don't wanna see what that looks like." Evan said.

"No no no I know, I know. Jeez man, uh… On Wednesday, when we meet up, we'll take her to that Taco Bell across the street, and work everything out then. I'll take the responsibility for this mess." Alex promised.

"We'll figure it out… Listen man, I gotta go now. We'll talk later." Evan said.

"Yeah, okay. Bye now." Alex said, hanging up the phone. He began to rub his eyes, sitting on the bed.

Fluttershy peeked her head inside, knocking on the door. She had already changed into her pajamas, since it was coming up on the later hours of the night. Alex gestured for her to come in. She inched into the room, her arms folded in front of her.

"Was that Evan just now?" She asked softly.

"Yeah. Come in, sit down." Alex said, sliding to one side of the bed. She sat down next to him.

"How is he doing?" She asked.

"Well, he's been better, as you can expect. He's on lockdown for now until we meet tomorrow night to talk all of this out. I'll explain everything to her, and it should hopefully be okay after that." Alex said.

"I'm really worried about him, and I feel really bad. It's our fault he's in trouble now." Fluttershy said, shaking her head.

"It's not ya'll's fault, Fluttershy. It's mine. I was the one that sent you guys over to him." Alex said with a sigh, readjusting how he was sitting.

"You didn't have a choice. We wouldn't have been able to handle ourselves as we are if we had stayed." Fluttershy said, defending him.

"Yeah, and you didn't have a choice either for that same reason. So it's not about blame, now we just gotta sort this misunderstanding out." Alex said. Fluttershy nodded.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Please, let me know how that goes."

"Yeah, don't worry, I will." Alex said, nodding slowly. Fluttershy began to peer at him closer.

"You still don't look too good, Alex. You should probably sleep some more." Fluttershy suggested. Alex shook his head in response.

"If I go to sleep now, my sleep schedule will be all sorts of messed up. I just need to fight for a few more hours, so I can sleep and wake up at semi-normal times." Alex explained.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"This isn't my first time having to do this 'cause of my job. I'll be fine." Alex said, doing his best to sound reassuring while rubbing his tired eyes again.

"Okay." Fluttershy said, getting up and going back to the living room.

Alex sighed, looking back down at the ground again. He was unsure of how he was going to sort things out with Evan's Mom; he had no clue what he was going to say to her, but he knew that if he didn't, both he and Evan could end up in trouble more serious than what he could imagine.

Alex got up, coming out into the living room, where the three of them were all sitting down watching the news on TV. Their expressions were all neutral as they watched silently and attentively. There was a story on regarding a fatal car accident that had occurred hours earlier.

"With things like this, you would think that those who drive these cars would be more cautious." Rarity commented.

"I say the same thing, and yet they happen all the time all the same." Alex said as he walked out, sitting with them on the couch.

"Oh, Alex, I thought I'd heard you up. How are you feeling?" Rarity asked.

"I'm alright. Still dead-tired, but I can't afford to sleep anymore just yet." Alex answered honestly.

"Why do you work such awful shifts?" Rainbow Dash asked, her eyebrows furrowing.

"I get paid more because no one wants them, so that knocks a work day out every once in awhile. I only have to work 2-3 times a week to handle myself." Alex explained.

"And in exchange, the days you do work throw your whole schedule off." Rarity said.

"That's the trade-off, I guess, but it isn't all that bad. I like my job, it's just the hours that kill me." Alex said with a low chuckle. The others just nodded.

"Were you on the phone with Evan just now?" Rarity asked.

"Yep. I'mma try to help sort everything out tomorrow night. I'll sit down with him and his parents and get this all sorted out. I'll explain everything, why I got Evan involved, take responsibility, all that good stuff." Alex explained his plan.

"Could I ask you something, Alex?" Rarity asked.

"Sure."

"Evan mentioned to us on the way back that it 'looks bad' for us to be staying with you or him. He said that even just if we were to be seen in a car with him or with you, it would look inappropriate. Why is that?" She posed her question.

"Huh," Alex sighed. "I'm kind of surprised you haven't figured the answer to that out yet." Alex said.

"I guess where we're from, social etiquette works differently." Rarity admitted.

"Yeah. Well, to be frank about it, we live in a world where sex is both glorified and wildly chased after, and along with that, there's an illegal business where people can pay for sex," Alex explained carefully. "That's the sort of look people see when a guy is catering to three girls the way I am for you."

"That's disgusting! It's nothing like that!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. Alex just calmly shrugged.

"People will see what they want to see regardless. Evan's Mom is a pretty intellectual person, very reasonable. I'm hoping that explaining everything to her will help fight back that tendency to look at it that way." Alex said.

"Is that why you hesitated to help us out before?" Fluttershy asked. Alex tilted his head.

"A little bit, yeah, I guess. I was more worried you were running a scam and I was gonna wake up with my valuables stolen." Alex admitted.

"But you gave us the benefit of the doubt." Rainbow Dash said.

"I did, and I'm glad to say you proved me wrong with that." Alex said with a slight smile, yawning again. Fluttershy decided to change the subject.

"So, um, what do you do at your job?" She asked.

"I help in the Emergency Room with patients that come in. Like that car accident on the news. Those that were injured, if they were to be taken to the hospital that I work at, there would be a chance that I would help prepare that person's room, bring them in, tend to the injuries, all that stuff." Alex explained.

"Is it busy?" Rarity asked.

"Depends on the day and time. Usually it's kind of in the middle; we don't get slammed _that_ often."

"Have you ever saved a life?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

"Um, well not quite that dramatically as you might think, but I've contributed to the saving of lives, yeah, I'd put it that way. I've helped save lives, I've seen people die, and some stuff in-between too." Alex summarized the experience of his work.

"Oh wow, that sounds like a lot." Fluttershy said.

"It is. I try not to think about it too much, or just focus on the positive stuff. I do enjoy helping people though, which is why I like my job." Alex said with a nod.

"That's really nice. What inspired you to choose nursing specifically?" Rarity asked.

"Just that, wanting to help people, you know, to be of use. I volunteered at a hospital once, liked what I learned, and just decided to stick with it." Alex answered.

"That's really cool. Where we're from, we like to help others too, but not with hospital stuff, we help them with friendship problems." Rainbow Dash said.

"Friendship problems? What, like, counseling?" Alex asked.

"It's a little more straightforward than that, darling. We simply help out friends who are having issues. It's taken us to all sort of interesting and different places." Rarity said with a smile.

"So, is that like a job?" Alex asked slowly.

"Kind of, I guess. It's just nice to help others out, just like you like helping others out." Fluttershy said with a smile. Alex nodded.

"Fair enough. That sounds interesting. So, say that Evan and I were fighting about something. Would you be called in, or is there an official friendship notification, or what?" Alex asked. The girls giggled.

"Sort of. We have a map that calls us whenever there's a friendship problem that we need to solve. It tells us where it, and who should go to help solve the problem." Rainbow Dash explained.

"Oh, alright, that sounds interesting enough. It's kind of like…ugh, I'm trying to remember what that was… Percy Jackson!"

"What's that?" Fluttershy asked.

"It's a story. Anyways, in the movie, they were looking for these pearls or something, and they had a special map that told them where each pearl was, and every time they found one it would reveal the location of the next pearl." Alex explained the connection.

"I guess that isn't too different." Rainbow Dash chuckled a bit.

"It's fascinating how many creative concepts they have here, with movies and t-television." Rarity said with a smile.

"Do they not have TV in that Equestrian place?" Alex asked.

"Not to the same extent, unless something's changed in the time we've been gone." Rarity answered.

"We have radio and music and books and movies." Fluttershy pointed out.

"Just, you know, different." Rainbow Dash added.

"That makes sense. I'd like to know more about where you three are from, but maybe tomorrow. I'm, like, ready to pass out." Alex chuckled.

"We'll save that conversation for afterwards then." Rarity nodded.

"Alright. Goodnight." He said.

"Goodnight." They all waved him off in unison…


	14. Rainy Days

It was another early morning, only coming up on about 8 am. Fluttershy was the first to get up again, and was coming out of the shower. After the past week or so, she was becoming more accustomed to her new human body, as were her friends.

She stepped out of the bathroom dressed in her casual clothes, shorts and a bigger T-shirt. She stepped out into the hallway with bare feet and a towel wrapped around her head. She was surprised to see Alex sitting there at the counter with a bottle of water.

"Oh, good morning, Alex." Fluttershy greeted him with a soft smile.

However, Alex did not respond. As she stepped closer to him, she could see that he wasn't focused on her; he didn't appear to be focused on anything. His eyes were simply blank, and his expression bore a look of solemn contemplation and deep sadness.

"Alex? Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked with concern, bending forward a little bit and placing a hand on his shoulder. He flinched a bit, looking up at her.

"Huh?" He managed, not saying anything else. Closer still to him, now Fluttershy could see that there was mist in his eyes, even a stray tear or two. This only heightened her concern.

"What's wrong, Alex?" She asked again, her eyebrows furrowing and her frown deepening.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm fine." Alex answered, squinting a bit. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing his answer. Alex shook his head.

"I was just lost in thought is all." Alex said, rubbing his eyes. He looked down at his wet fingers, seemingly now noticing the tears that he had shed.

"What were you thinking about?" She asked, sitting down in the seat next to his.

"Um…just personal stuff is all." Alex said, trying to dismiss it. However, Fluttershy seemed to insist.

"You can tell me. It's alright." She said. Alex seemed very hesitant, looking for a way to phrase his next words.

"Okay… Have you ever heard the saying, 'Hindsight is 20/20'?" Alex asked. Fluttershy shook her head.

"Not really. What does it mean?"

"Well, 20/20 vision is perfect vision. It's basically saying that when you look back on something that's already happened, it's a lot easier to see what mistakes you made, what you could have done better, all that kind of stuff." Alex explained.

"I understand that." Fluttershy nodded.

"Yeah. So, um, sometimes I think back to times like that. Things I could've done better, things I could've avoided, mistakes that I made that made a huge difference, like in work or just in general or whatever. There's not exactly a shortage of things that I wish I could change." Alex summarized.

"I see… We all make mistakes. There's nothing wrong with that, so long as you learn from them and move on." Fluttershy said. Alex, however, shook his head.

"Not mistakes like these." He said solemnly, his voice quieting. He looked down at his folded arms, seemingly beginning to trail off again.

"You seem like you could use a hug." Fluttershy said, offering one to him. Alex sighed, and shook his head after some silence.

"That's alright. I'll be okay." He turned her down, even though a part of him wanted to accept it.

Despite this, Fluttershy got up anyways, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and hugging him from the side, laying her head down gently atop his. Alex sighed, closing his eyes. It wasn't long before his body loosened, as if falling asleep again. Fluttershy stepped back.

"Better?" She asked. Alex let out a long sigh.

"Little bit. Thanks." He said.

"Girls, I think we need to talk about something." Fluttershy said to the others as they ate breakfast. Alex was in the shower, so it was just the three of them having this private conversation.

"About what, dear? What's on your mind?" Rarity asked as she sipped her milk. Fluttershy took a breath to compose her thoughts.

"I'm worried about Alex now too." She began.

"Yeah, with his job? He looked really bad." Rainbow Dash said. Fluttershy nodded.

"Mhmm. It isn't…just that."

"What else?" Rarity asked.

"Okay, but you have to promise me that you won't say that I told you this."

"Of course. Who would we tell?" Rarity asked. Fluttershy nodded.

"I was talking to him this morning, and he was crying."

"Crying? Why?" Rainbow Dash asked, her own concern beginning to rise too now.

"That's just it, he said he was thinking about his past, things that happened that he can't change, but they still make him sad, like, really sad. And I think that his sleep and his job contribute to that." Fluttershy proposed her theory.

"Why do you say that?" Rarity asked.

"Well, you remember he said that he sees bad stuff at work sometimes, and just this world is really sad too, bad things happen a lot. Maybe it's just so many bad things are going on around him that it makes him think about sad things and then he cries." Fluttershy rambled.

"Slow down a bit, Fluttershy. What do you think we should do about it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I don't know, really. For now, we should just do our best to be there for him and help brighten his spirits, because he…there was something about him this morning that was just not the same, you know?"

"It must've been bad for you to be like this. We'll keep an eye on him." Rarity nodded. Rainbow Dash also agreed, glancing towards the bathroom door where she knew Alex was.

After awhile, Alex came out of the bathroom in jeans, a T-shirt, and a hat with the letter Z on it, a sword running through it. He nodded to the others, not really smiling as he joined the others.

"Morning, Alex." They all greeted him.

"Hey, morning," He greeted all of them in return. "How's breakfast?"

"It's very good, thank you." Rainbow Dash responded for the group. He nodded again.

"Good good. I, uh, got some errands I'mma run later today. I'll grab some lunch for you guys when I get back." He said.

"We can come with you." Rarity offered.

"Yeah you can. I'm just leaving like right now, so…" Alex said. Rainbow Dash nodded and stood.

"I'll come with you then. I'm already done." She said. Alex nodded.

"Sure thing. We'll be back soon, alright, to pick the rest of you up." Alex said to Rarity and Fluttershy. They nodded in response.

Alex and Rainbow Dash rode silently in the car as Alex played his music at a lower volume, driving through traffic towards the grocery store. A song called Cry Me A River was playing as they cruised. Rainbow Dash looked around for something to say.

"It's cloudy out this morning." She commented. Alex nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it is. I like cloudy days though."

"Do you?"

"Oh yeah. I don't know why, but a cloudy day always brightens my mood a little bit. And then when it rains, I like to sit back and crack open my window so I can listen to it while I relax." Alex described. Rainbow Dash nodded and smiled.

"That sounds really nice. It looks like we might get a day like that today."

"Huh?" Alex looked over at her for a moment. Rainbow Dash flinched a bit.

"You know, a rainy day?"

"Yeah, right," Alex nodded, looking ahead again. "I don't know, I was thinking I'd take you three to go see a movie or something." He suggested.

"A movie? What movie were you thinking about?" She asked.

"Well, there's Spider-Man. That came out not too long ago." He said.

"Spider-Man? Who's that?" She asked. Alex hummed.

"Well, he's only the greatest superhero that exists." Alex answered with a chuckle. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and chuckled a bit.

"I'll be the judge of that. Tell me about Spider-Man."

"Haha, alright. Well, he's got the powers of a spider basically: he's super fast and agile, he heals quickly, he's super strong, and he's got a spider-sense that warns him whenever there's danger approaching, kind of like a funny feeling you get before something bad's gonna happen, but more precise and always accurate.

"In addition to that, he's _really_ smart. He designed these web shooters that, you know, shoot webs, and he uses them to swing from buildings. He uses that to get around faster; that combined with his agility, you know."

As Alex went on and on about his favorite superhero, Rainbow Dash noticed an immediate lift in his mood. She had seen before that he was a little down, but now in comparison to him talking more excitedly, she saw the contrast much more.

In addition to that, she couldn't help but smile at him talking about something he clearly enjoyed a lot. His eyes had light to them again, and he had a smile that he seemed to be trying to hold back but it would break through anyway.

It was one of those 'cute moments', as he had said about her before.

"He sounds pretty cool. And there's a movie about this guy?" She asked.

"Yep! It's a great movie, I've already seen it a couple times. But I'll take you three to see it, and then you can tell me what you think. I'm pretty sure you'll love it though." Alex said with a confident smile.

"He sounds pretty cool, so we'll see, but I think I just might." She said, casting a smile in his direction…


	15. Fashion

"Wow. That was a good movie." Rainbow Dash said with an approving nod.

"It was very tense, but I liked it." Fluttershy commented with a smile.

"I agree. I can see why Alex recommended it. And it may or may not have inspired some bold ideas for my next fashion line." Rarity said cheekily, pressing her lips together and looking side to side in a comedic way. They chuckled a bit.

"You should've heard Alex talk about this guy. He was going on and on about how 'Spider-Man's the greatest superhero ever'." Rainbow Dash said with a giggle.

"Sounds like a certain somepony we know when she gets started on a certain book." Rarity brought up in a teasing manner. Rainbow Dash stuttered a bit in defense.

"Wh- I mean… Whatever!" She said with a laugh. The other laughed as well.

"We'll have to tell Alex that he made a good selection when he gets back." Rarity said with a chuckle.

"Where did he say he went?" Fluttershy asked.

"Out to talk with Evan's mom about the situation." Rainbow Dash said, sighing a bit just at the thought of it.

"I hope everything goes well. I still feel bad for getting him in so much trouble with his mother. I wish we could help the talk out somehow." Fluttershy lamented.

"As do I, but in light of what Alex told us, it'd probably be best just to stay out of this. After all, we hardly know this world we're stuck in." Rarity said.

"It's hard to wrap my brain around that; it was pretty gross. Who would even _think_ that?" Rainbow Dash said. The others shook their heads in agreement.

"Clearly, there are some stark differences between the world we come from and this one." Rarity said with a sigh.

"I hope that Twilight and the others figure out how to get us back soon. It's been taking a while. I'm starting to get really worried." Fluttershy admitted.

"Don't fret, Fluttershy. I'm sure that it seems like an eternity now, but they'll be here before we know it, and then we'll get to go home." Rarity said with a nod.

"And…what about Alex?" Rainbow Dash asked. The others looked his way.

"What about him, darling?"

"When we go home, do we just say goodbye and that's it?" She asked. The others hummed in thought.

"I don't see any reason why we would need to part ways forever. After all, he's done us a huge favor. I'd personally like the chance to repay him for it." Rarity said.

"Plus, we still have to prove to him that Equestria is a real place. Maybe we could talk to Twilight about letting him come with us?" Fluttershy suggested.

"Yeah. I mean, they got us here, and when they come to bring us back, I'm sure we could easily just come and go." Rainbow Dash said.

"So it's decided then. When Twilight comes, we'll ask her to take him to see Equestria." Rarity said with a nod.

"Oh man, I can't wait to see the look on his face." Rainbow Dash said with an excited grin and a bit of a mischievous chuckle.

At that moment, in Alex came. The doorknob turned, and in Alex came, dressed in a dark blue suit with a white shirt and bow tie. He smiled and nodded to them as he entered, carrying a black coat over his shoulder.

"Man, the rain picked up real bad while I was out there. I'm glad I brought my umbrella with me." He said with a chuckle as he locked the door.

"How did it go?" Fluttershy asked with some urgency.

"It went pretty well. Um… I explained the situation to her, my part in it and what's going on. I eventually was able to get her to understand, so Evan will be helping out again, but you'll be staying here for the time being until other arrangements can be made. So far, nobody's been able to make a room available." Alex said.

"So, everything's all good now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"For the most part yeah. We'll see though about the next time Evan's able to stop by. His schedule's a little full, and my next workdays will be coming up soon." Alex said as he took his bow tie off. Rarity interjected.

"That's a very nice outfit! Is that what passes for formal clothing?" Rarity asked curiously. Alex squinted a bit in confusion, but nodded.

"Yeah. I had a meeting to go to, so I usually gotta wear suits." Alex answered.

"Rarity, we're talking about the Evan situa-"

"I love it! Did you pick it out yourself?" Rarity asked, ignoring Rainbow Dash's interjection.

"Yep. I try to put my best foot forward in how I dress." Alex said as he began to go back to his room.

"I do the same! Might I take a look at your ensemble?" Rarity requested. Alex gave her another look.

"My what?"

"Your wardrobe, darling. Fashion is my passion, as a matter of fact. Whenever I meet another who shares that passion, I like to compare choices."

"Oh. Um, well I guess you can take a look. I'm no fashionista, but I got some nice stuff." Alex said with a shrug. Rarity began to get up and follow him.

"Are you coming?" Rarity asked the others. They shook their heads.

"That's your department, Rare. You go ahead." Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle. Rarity shrugged and smiled, following Alex.

Alex set his coat down on his bed, walking to the other side of the room and opening up his closet. He turned on a light, and gestured for Rarity to enter. She entered into the closet. It was a modest size, and the racks were all crowded with shirts and pants on hangers. Alex set his bow tie up on shelf next to his other ties.

"This is where the magic happens," Alex said with a small chuckle. "I usually come in here and just throw something together." Alex said with a shrug.

"I certainly see some potential here in just the colors alone. So, let's say you're going out on average day to do some shopping. What would you pick out?" Rarity asked.

"Depends on the weather firstly. I don't wanna wear a long-sleeve if it's hot or go without a jacket if it's gonna rain."

"Then we'll go with a sunny afternoon." Rarity said.

"Alright then. In that case…" Alex began to sift through his clothing, and pulled out a red T-shirt with the logo of a diamond in a circle on it, and black cargo joggers. He handed them to Rarity to look at, and pulled a snapback off of a shelf.

"You said sunny, so T-shirt for the warmth, pants for the bugs, hat so there's no sunburn." Alex said.

"Excellent reasoning. How does the shirt fit in relation to the pants?"

"The shirt's a little on the baggy side which allows for more breathing room with the wind, and the joggers fit a little tighter; that's a more of a trendy thing right now."

"Perfectly sound reasoning; modest, comfortable, and yet, still stylish and modern. Alex, you've stolen this prima donna's heart." Rarity said with a giggle. Alex laughed.

"Haha nice. Glad not to disappoint. I'm sure that you've got your own nice lines over in that Equestrian place." Alex said, putting the clothes that he had pulled out back where he had found them.

"Oh yes, I actually design clothes over there. I release my own fashion lines from my boutiques." Rarity said matter-of-factly, and with some pride.

"Oh, that's pretty cool! So you have your own business then."

"Yes." Rarity nodded.

"Alright then. So you put something together." Alex issued the challenge. Rarity chuckled.

"What sort of something would you like?"

"Just anything." Alex said with a shrug.

Rarity's eyes began to scan through the closet. She hummed in thought as she set to work in her mind. She curiously pulled out a green shirt, and found the symbol of a golden phoenix on its chest. She hummed.

"What is this symbol?"

"Oh, it's a Legend of Zelda thing. It's a video game."

"Interesting. Is it popular?"

"Oh yeah. I'll have to show it to you guys someday." Alex said with a chuckle.

Rarity continued sifting through clothes, and happened on a blue pullover hoodie with white markings all over its borders, giving off an almost ceremonial feel. Its hood was a dark blue with orange and white triangles all along the edge.

"This is lovely! Very adventurous." Rarity said approvingly.

"That's also Legend of Zelda." Alex said with a sheepish chuckle.

"Well, I like it. Let's definitely do something with this," She nodded before continuing her search. "Actually, let me see those black pants you had earlier. Please?" Rarity said.

"Sure." Alex nodded, taking them back out and handing them to her.

"Black tends to be a good accent piece with almost any outfit. Now, let's set this out." Rarity said, putting them down on the bed. She nodded.

"Looks good so far."

"Not bad at all. Now, you wear shoes. Do you have shoes to go with it?" Rarity asked.

"They're right there at the bottom. You tell me." Alex said with a chuckle and a gesture. Rarity rolled her eyes with a smile, turning back into the closet. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy came in at the same time.

"How's it going?" Rainbow Dash asked with a chuckle.

"Rarity is putting together an outfit for me." Alex answered with a chuckle.

"Ooh, she's very good at that." Fluttershy said with a nod.

Just then, a high-pitched squeal from the closet made all three of them jump. Rarity came out, proudly holding up a black Converse sneaker with a section of blue on the back of it.

"These are perfect!" Rarity said, setting them on the floor at the edge of the bed. Alex nodded.

"Looks good. Nice job."

"Thank you. You have a nice selection of clothes." Rarity complimented.

"Thanks. I guess I'll wear this tomorrow." He said with a chuckle. Rarity beamed a bit at this. Rainbow Dash just chuckled and shook her head.


	16. Past Mistakes

"So, what're we doing today, Alex?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I don't know. I gotta get some shopping today. Maybe we can get some ice cream afterwards?" He suggested to them. They nodded.

"Mmm, ice cream." Fluttershy hummed.

"That sounds lovely." Rarity agreed with a nod.

"Awesome. It's decided then. Shopping and ice cream." Alex nodded.

"We are closer than ever to figuring this portal out. I'm sure of it. I can feel it." Twilight said.

"Twilight, we've been running tests for the last three hours. Can we please take a break?" Starlight requested, her head tiredly falling on the desk she was sitting at. Twilight sighed and nodded.

"Alright. Yeah, we can get something to eat." Twilight said. They both got up and exited the schoolhouse. At that moment, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom were coming up to the schoolhouse, apparently to meet up with them.

"See? I told you that they've been hanging out at the schoolhouse a lot!" Scootaloo said, clearly her point being proven by Twilight and Starlight's presence.

"What's the Princess of Friendship and her student doing at our schoolhouse?" Apple Bloom asked.

"We're trying to figure out a very complicated magic spell that we came up with, and made a mistake on." Starlight explained in the most general terms she could think of.

"Yeah, it looks complex," Scootaloo said, peering at the chalkboard through the window. "It looks important too."

"Yes. It is very important. We need to figure this out as soon as possible." Twilight said, trying not to sound too desperate.

"Hey, Twilight? When is Rarity getting back from her trip?" Sweetie Belle asked somewhat abruptly.

"What?"

"Applejack told me that Rarity's been gone for awhile and she doesn't know where she is. I figured she's just off doing some of her fashion stuff. But she's been gone awhile. Did she say when she was getting back?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Twilight swallowed hard, opening her mouth to answer. However, trying to muster up something reassuring while looking Sweetie Belle in the eyes was proving to be much more difficult for her. So Starlight offered an answer.

"I'm sure she'll be back before you know it, Sweetie Belle."

"I hope so. It's not like her to just leave without saying anything. It's kind of rude too." Sweetie Belle said.

"Where are you staying now?" Twilight asked.

"I'm staying over with the Apples right now. It's like a sleepover! And I've been helping on the farm too. It's _a lot_ of work." Sweetie Belle replied.

"Heheh, that's farm life for ya." Apple Bloom chuckled.

"Well that's good. Well…gotta go, see ya!" Twilight said before making a hasty retreat from the conversation. Starlight glanced her direction in surprise, and then quickly closed off the conversation with Sweetie Belle and the others.

"Um, Twilight's… _really_ hungry. We're gonna grab some grub before we get back to what we were doing. Take care, girls." Starlight said, waving them off as she went to catch up with Twilight.

"Bye, Starlight!" All three of them said in unison.

Starlight quickened her pace to catch up with Twilight, who was trotting along at a miserable pace. She could see the guilt written all over her face, and even Starlight couldn't help but resonate with those feelings.

"We need to figure this out soon, Starlight. We've been leaving our friends hanging for too long already."

"I agree. We'll get this soon. We just need a little more time." Starlight said.

"It's already been nearly two weeks. We don't need time, we need results. I just hope it's not too late." Twilight said anxiously, letting out a heavy, downtrodden sigh.

"You know, you guys don't _all_ have to come with me." Alex said to them as they were entering the store.

"It's alright. We don't mind." Rarity said with a smile.

"Besides, we get to see more stuff around this place." Rainbow Dash said.

"Well, when you put it that way, nevermind then." Alex said with a chuckle, grabbing a shopping cart upon entering. They walked through the sliding doors into the grocery store, and began to go up and down through the aisles.

"What sort of items do they sell here?" Rarity asked curiously.

"Food stuff mainly, food and drink. I get pretty much everything I need for the next week or two." Alex answered. They nodded.

"That's a lot." Fluttershy said. Alex hummed and nodded.

"Yeah it is," Alex said with a chuckle. "But it's all good." Alex said.

"Alex?" A voice called to him. They paused, and looked over.

Approaching them was a young girl with two other girls behind her. She had darker skin than the rest of them, standing up slightly shorter than Alex himself. On his part, Alex looked completely shocked to see her, and his face even grew a little pale.

"Brianna?" Alex managed.

"Who're…these?" She asked slowly.

"Hey there. I'm Rainbow Dash, and this is Fluttershy and Rarity." Rainbow Dash went ahead and introduced them.

"Are you a friend of Alex's?" Fluttershy asked.

"No." Alex and Brianna both answered quickly and at the same time. They glanced at each other awkwardly.

"So, uh, how're things?"

"Fine. You?"

"Pretty good." Alex shrugged.

"I see." Brianna nodded, eyeing the other girls with him. Alex cleared his throat.

"Um, good to see you, Brianna. Take care." He said, waving her off before continuing on.

"See ya." She said, before they parted ways. After some time, they spoke up again.

"Who was that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'll tell you later if you remind me." Alex said, quickly diffusing the subject.

"They really have all that meat in every store?" Fluttershy asked queasily. Alex shrugged.

"Typically."

"I don't understand how you guys can eat that stuff. That's really nasty." Rainbow Dash said with an expression of disgust.

"I have to agree with Rainbow Dash there, darling."

"Meat's good man. I mean, if you don't want none, that's fine, I won't force it on you. More for me." He replied, taking a spoonful out of his mint ice cream.

"We'll respectfully opt for other choices." Rarity said for the group. Alex chuckled a bit at this.

"Hey, so you never really told us about that girl earlier. Who was that?" Rainbow Dash brought up again what was on her mind. Alex rolled his eyes.

"Right, yeah. Brianna. We used to go out." Alex said.

"Go out how?" Fluttershy asked.

"What? No, I mean we used to date." Alex clarified his statement.

"She was your special some…one?" Rarity asked, stopping herself to use the right phrase.

"Used to be, yeah." Alex answered.

"She didn't seem very nice." Fluttershy commented.

"Ah, well, you know, that's how it is when you got bad blood." Alex said.

"So, what happened with you and her?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously, resting her chin on her hand and leaning towards him a little.

"Um, well, things were good for awhile, but then she accused me of cheating on her with a female friend of mine, which I wasn't, and in response, she cheated on me with another guy. That's putting it _very_ simply, but that's mainly what ended the relationship." Alex summarized his past dealings with her.

"Yeesh. That's awful. Sorry you had to go through that." Rainbow Dash said, taking his side on the matter. Alex shrugged.

"Ehh, it's alright. I'm over it now. You know, you can't back and change the things you could've done better, and I definitely could have done some things better, but knowing that it probably would've been toxic had it continued makes it easier to swallow." Alex explained his reasoning.

"That makes sense," Rarity said. "We all have our different struggles, romantic or otherwise. I recall one time where I met someone who I was absolutely smitten with, then I came to find out the only person he really care about was himself." She recalled.

"Like Dionysus, just in love with his reflection, right?" Alex asked. Rarity chuckled.

"Well, I don't know about that Dionysus character, but he certainly did have that attitude. Ugh, it was very upsetting." Rarity said.

"Yeah, guys are stupid man." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Aren't you a guy?" Rainbow Dash asked with a teasing chuckle. Alex snorted a bit.

"Yeah, but I try to be an exception to the rule. Besides, ain't no guy can rock a nerd hoodie like me." Alex said, referring to the Zelda hoodie that Rarity had picked out for him the night before. They chuckled a bit.

"I suppose not." Rarity rolled her eyes and smiled.

"You still have to show us that game that your hoodie was based off of. Rarity mentioned that." Rainbow Dash reminded him. Alex nodded.

"Right, yeah. How about tonight? We can do it then." Alex offered.

"Sounds good." Fluttershy nodded, answering for the group.


	17. Breath of the Wild

"So what's this game called?" Rainbow Dash asked, her excitement beginning to grow as they all took their seats. Alex handed the girls some popcorn to share.

"It's called Breath of the Wild, it won Game of the Year last year." Alex answered.

"Game of the Year? Sounds awesome." Rainbow Dash said.

"Heheh, oh yeah. There's a reason I made popcorn before starting this session. We're gonna start from the beginning of the game." Alex said, beginning to set the game on. The three of them got comfortable on the couch.

"This is exciting. It's almost like we're watching a movie." Fluttershy commented.

"It's even better than that, because you get to make suggestions on where to go and what to do first." Alex said.

"We have that option?" Rarity asked.

"Once I get through the tutorial, it's completely open-world." Alex said.

"So you can go anywhere and do whatever you want?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"In a fictional world full of dangerous monsters and epic missions." Alex replied.

"Ohh this is gonna be great!"

***

"I'm really sorry to be the one to have to tell you all of this. Finding Rainbow Dash has been my top priority these past two weeks, and I've been so focused on it, I haven't really filled anypony else in." Twilight apologized.

"Hey, that's alright. We just hope you find Rainbow Crash soon. She's not easy to replace." Spitfire replied, pushing her flight goggles up to her forehead.

"No she isn't. We'll get her back soon, I hope."

"Any idea where she might be?" Spitfire asked curiously. Twilight shook her head.

"We're still working on that, but nothing yet." She answered. Spitfire cringed a bit.

"Yeesh. That's not good. Best of luck to ya, princess. You just tell her that she'll have plenty to catch up on when she gets back." Spitfire said.

"I will. Thank you." Twilight said as Spitfire took off. She sighed, and began to fly back towards Ponyville.

On her way towards and past Ponyville, she had plenty of time to recollect the events from two weeks ago, what had happened, what went wrong, and the chances they had of replicating their mistake perfectly. Even if they could, the chances of their friends being safe were smaller still.

And their chances grew smaller with each passing day.

Finally, Twilight swooped down to Fluttershy's cottage, and briefly knocked on the door before entering. She came in to a rowdy mess of Applejack and Pinkie Pie and Discord all trying to manage the anxious creatures.

"Doggonit, would ya quit runnin' around breakin' everything?" Applejack shouted to the bear. It growled in a distressed way and waved its paws in the air.

"Will you eat the carrot? No? How about the cupcake? No?! The carrot cupcake?!" Pinkie desperately tried to negotiate with Angel Bunny, but he was refusing to eat.

"Oh, this is just wonderful. Cause some more damage, why don't you? Just steal all my thunder!" Discord groaned.

"Looks like things aren't going so well here either." Twilight said with a sigh.

"We're tryin' our best, sugarcube, but can't nopony do this like Fluttershy can." Applejack said apologetically, wiping her brow tiredly.

"Yeah, this is just ridiculous! How does she handle all of this?!" Pinkie Pie groaned. Twilight sighed.

"Because it's what she's good at. I'll try and help you sort this out, but I gotta get back to the schoolhouse so we can keep working out the portal with Starlight." Twilight said.

"How's that coming along, Twi?" Applejack asked urgently. Twilight shook her head again.

"Zero progress. Well, not zero, I shouldn't say that, but we keep hitting the same wall. In order to find where they went, we have to figure out the exact angle that Starlight and mine's beams collided, and the amount of options there is too big to narrow it down." Twilight explained.

"Perhaps I could be of assistance?" Discord asked.

"How?"

"Well, you see, I've been recently learning how to construct scenarios for the sake of…well, it's a guy thing, but perhaps with enough space, I could help you reconstruct your little…accident in exact detail." Discord offered.

"Exact detail. That's so unlike you, Discord! I'm so proud!" Pinkie said.

"Okay, first of all, yes! We definitely need to try that! Second, that accident was _your_ fault, so you should be helping us. Thirdly, you're able to do this and you didn't tell us sooner?!" Twilight demanded.

"Well, I mean, I've been so worried lately, it hasn't occurred to me. Besides, it's fairly new." Discord argued.

"Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's finish here so we can give it a try!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

***

"Alright, which way are we going, girls? Dueling Peaks, Death Mountain, elsewhere? How you feel?" Alex polled the group. They all hummed in thought.

"Well, they said to go to Dueling Peaks, so that's where we should go, right?" Rarity suggested.

"Hyrule is so big though! There's so much to see, and I wanna see all of it!" Rainbow Dash said.

"We will, a little at a time. For now, let's head to the Dueling Peaks. If we're gonna do that, we need to get ourselves a stallion." Alex hummed in thought, beginning to go out into an open field.

"Oh?" Fluttershy hummed.

"Yeah, it's faster to travel by horseback," Alex said, beginning to sneak towards a herd of wild horses all idly trotting around. "Pick one."

"That one." Rarity immediately pointed to a blue stallion with white spots. Alex nodded.

"Yeah, I was eyeing that one too." Alex chuckled, sneaking up behind it.

The three of them all leaned forward in silent anticipation as Alex snuck up behind their desired horse. He jumped over its rear end onto its back, and it began to buck wildly to try and throw him off. Alex quickly set to work soothing it until calmed, and allowed him to steer.

"Did it work?" Rainbow Dash asked, seemingly unsure of what she just witnessed.

"Yep. We got him. What do you think?" Alex asked, having the camera sweep around the horse so they could get a full view of his new ride.

"Very handsome." Rarity said with a smile. Alex nodded in agreement.

"What should we name him?" Alex asked the group.

"Blue." Fluttershy opted.

"Blue Lightning!" Rainbow Dash added onto Fluttershy's suggestion.

"That's too long. That can be his nickname though." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Perhaps you should choose, darling. You know more about this game than we do." Rarity said. Alex nodded.

"Alright. Well, last time I got a horse like this, I named him Azulo. How's that sound?" Alex suggested.

"What a dreamy name. It sounds so foreign." Rarity said with a sigh.

"It is actually, sort of. I made a name out of the Spanish word for blue: 'azul'." Alex explained, saying the word in a natural Spanish accent.

"Spanish?" Rainbow Dash asked in a slow and absent manner.

"It's another language." Alex clarified.

"Ohhh." The three of them nodded slowly.

"Do you speak another language?" Rarity asked curiously.

"Nah, but I know a few phrases here and there, and some songs, of course." Alex chuckled.

"Of course. You _love_ your music, don't you?" Rainbow Dash teased him a bit. Alex laughed.

"Uh, yeah, I do. If over a thousand songs doesn't say anything about my love of music, I don't know what would." Alex said.

"A thousand songs, man. Are any of them any good?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Heh, well, you've heard a number of them these past two weeks. You tell me." Alex replied smoothly.

"Fair enough." Rainbow Dash said, smiling sideways at him.

Rarity glanced over at them, noticing that there was an interesting change in the way Rainbow Dash was interacting with Alex; she was casual and relaxed with him, and she seemed more comfortable being closer to him. In turn, Alex didn't seem to mind. The chemistry between them had improved since Rainbow Dash first expressed her concerns about Alex, and now she could only wonder what that meant for them.

"So, will Azulo help you get to the village faster?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yep. Riding a horse is one of the fastest ways to travel when you're starting out in the game, depending on which horse you get." Alex explained.

"Oh. That's cool." Fluttershy nodded.

"Man, this game is really cool. Have you beaten it before?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

"Yeah, once." Alex nodded.

"How long did that take?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Like two months." Alex answered. The girls' eyes all widened.

"That's a long time spent on one game!" Rarity exclaimed. Alex chuckled, nodding in agreement.

"Yeah it is. But I was never bored all through that time. There's _so much_ to do man."

"We're gonna be here awhile." Fluttershy said with a small giggle.


	18. Mini-Golf

The three girls were all on the edge of their seats, watching as Alex battled one-on-one with a large monster with lower half of a horse and the top half of a lion-man, a creature that Alex had identified as a Lynel.

Alex maneuvered Link in a half circle as the Lynel raised its sword and swung it at his knees. He backflipped over it, enabling a slow motion cutscene. Alex jumped in and began to attack the Lynel in a furious combo with his broadsword.

"Nice!" Rainbow Dash encouraged him.

"Thanks." Alex said before refocusing his attention on the game. The Lynel reared back a little bit, beginning to circle him. It came in for another attack, and Alex backflipped over it again. He drew his bow, firing an arrow into its eye to stun it.

While it was stunned, Alex ran to it and jumped onto its back. He began clubbing at it as it tried to buck him off, inflicting more damage. He jumped off of its back, drawing a different type of arrow and fired it, setting off an explosion in the back of the Lynel's head. That took out the Lynel, and it disappeared into purple smoke.

The girls all cheered at Alex's victory, applauding him. Alex was surprised by this, but grinned a bit and sighed in relief.

"That was awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"You're really good at this." Fluttershy complimented him.

"It's just practice is all." Alex chuckled.

There was a knock at the door just then. Alex's eyebrows furrowed a bit, and he stood up. It was clear that he hadn't been expecting any visitors. He opened the door, and immediately he was at ease again. He stepped aside, allowing for Evan to enter again.

"Evan!" Fluttershy was the first to get up and greet him with a hug, which he returned without even really realizing it.

"Hey there. Good to see ya'll again." He said.

"It's good to see you too, Evan. Is everything alright with your mother?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I was just working, so I wasn't able to come around 'til now. What's been going on? You got Breath of the Wild going, huh? Showing off your skills?" Evan asked, teasing Alex. They shared a laugh.

"Alex just defeated a Lynel." Rarity said. Evan nodded.

"Oh yeah, those Lynel fights are crazy. I remember when Alex first showed it to me. Those fights take a bit too."

"Mhmm. Come sit man. Can I get you some water or anything?" Alex offered.

"Nah I'm good for now, thanks." He said, taking a seat between Fluttershy and Rarity. Alex sat down by Rainbow Dash.

"How has work been for you, Evan?" Rarity asked.

"Sucks. But you know, it pays the bills." He answered.

"I understand. Well, we're glad you were able to come by and see us."

"Thanks, glad I could make it. Man, we never get enough time to hang out, Alex." Evan said to him.

"Right? It's okay though, it's the only way I can still stand you." Alex said. Evan laughed.

"Haha, same." He replied in turn. The girls chuckled.

"You tease each other a lot." Fluttershy commented.

"'Cause we're brothers, it's what brothers do." Alex said with a smile. The girls all smiled fondly at this.

"That's sweet." Rarity said.

"So, we doing anything today, man?" Evan asked. Alex hummed.

"I don't know. I'm a little low on cash right now, so whatever it is, it needs to be cheap and something we can split." Alex said.

"Alright. Um…" Evan thought for a bit.

"It's alright if we can't either." Fluttershy said.

"Nah, we should do something. It'll be fun. Uh…mini golf is the first thing that comes to mind." Alex said.

"Oh, you have mini golf here?" Rarity asked.

"We do! Let's go do that then." Alex chuckled and nodded decidedly.

Upon grabbing their clubs and balls, the group decided to split up. Alex went with Rarity and Rainbow Dash down one course, and Evan went with Fluttershy down a more animal-based course.

"So, Evan, are you from this town?" Fluttershy asked curiously as they reached the first hole. Evan shook his head, setting up his ball.

"Nah, I'm from Virginia originally. My family moved down here when I was a kid. Although, I have lived here a very long time." He answered.

"Oh okay. Do you like it here?" She asked. Evan shrugged a bit.

"I like the people more than the place itself, we'll put it that way."

"Oh okay. That's nice." Fluttershy nodded, going quiet.

She watched as Evan hit his first shot of the day. The ball rolled upwards towards the hole, going over a hill before veering just to the right of the hole itself.

"Ooh, you were so close."

Meanwhile, Alex and Rainbow Dash and Rarity were also on their first hole, going through a course that resembled the modern monuments of the world, according to Alex. Their first hole resembled a strange tower, with the hole in a downward fountain beneath it that led out to a platform on the side.

"What a strange structure. What's it called?" Rarity asked curiously.

"It's called the Eiffel Tower." Alex answered.

"It's quite peculiar, isn't it? But I like it." She said with an approving nod.

"You would, wouldn't you?" Alex said with a chuckle, setting his ball up. "You'd like the French culture, especially being so into fashion and beauty." He said.

"Really? Do they have high standards for it?"

"Relatively. They're famous for putting out some of the top world fashion, so that helps their case, I think." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Ooh, how lovely! Could we go there one day?" She asked.

"Ha! No." Alex answered. This answer surprised both Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

"Why not?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"The cost of getting there alone would be ridiculous. I can't afford something like that. I can barely afford to go to the beach every few months." Alex said so they could have an idea of the financial stretch.

"Is everything in this world all about money?" Rainbow Dash asked, forgetting to narrow down her question so as not to sound strange. However, Alex went right along and answered it.

"Basically. Nothing's free, and even what _is_ free comes with a price." Alex said with a sigh. The girls were silent for a bit as Alex hit the ball, and it went into the fountain and out into the hole.

"Nice." Rainbow Dash said.

"Thank you very much." Alex said, beginning to walk to get his ball. However, Rarity stopped him.

"Do you think that money issues could be the reason that perhaps you haven't found anyone willing to take us in yet?" She asked. Alex shrugged.

"That could have a lot to do with it. Convincing someone to take in a total stranger, pay for all of her clothes and food and any activities you take her on is a pretty hard sell. It'd be hard enough with just one of you." He said before going.

"Sheesh," Rainbow Dash said. "That really sucks. I know he isn't saying anything about it, but we've gotta be dragging him down."

"I know, but is there really anything we can do about it?" Rarity asked, shaking her head a bit.

"Nothing until Twilight and the others show up." Rainbow Dash replied.

"What?" Alex asked as he came back, seeing that the others were delaying.

"Huh? Oh nothing, we were just talking about our friends that are supposed to come and get us." Rainbow Dash said.

"Oh yeah, you know, I've been meaning to ask you about that. Still haven't heard anything from them?" Alex asked. They both shook their head.

"We have no way to get in touch with them. We're really sorry about the inconvenience." Rarity said apologetically. Alex nodded.

"It's alright. They'll show up eventually. Who exactly _is_ supposed to come and get you?" Alex asked.

"Our friends: Twilight, Starlight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie." Rainbow Dash listed their names off.

"Okay. Is that all you can tell me about them?" Alex asked.

"I'm afraid not, darling. Only what type of persons they are, but we don't know much else." Rarity admitted.

"Okay. And you're sure they're gonna show up?"

"Absolutely 100, no, 200 percent positive." Rainbow Dash said in no uncertain terms. She said it with enough confidence that Alex didn't seem to doubt her.

"Okay."

Meanwhile, Evan and Fluttershy had steadily made their way up a few more holes, and Fluttershy was beginning to improve her aim.

"…and Pinkie Pie? She _loves_ to bake, and she makes the best cupcakes."

"She sounds pretty cool. You have some pretty cool friends."

"They are pretty cool. I hope that one day you get to meet them all." Fluttershy said hopefully.

"That'd be fun." Evan said with a smile.

"Mhmm. I think you would really like Equestria; Alex too." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah? Is that where you live? I've never heard of it." Evan said. Fluttershy nodded.

"Yes, that's where I live. I live in a cottage in the forest, where I take care of all sorts of creatures that come and go." Fluttershy explained.

"That sounds really nice." Evan said.

"It is very nice. I love to take care of all the cute little critters, any animal of any size or shape is welcome in my home, and I take care of them all."

"Wow. You've got a passion for it, huh?" Evan asked.

"I do." Fluttershy answered, looking up at Evan. There was a pause between them, where they found themselves just staring at each other.

"That's…really great. Very cool." Evan finally said, smiling sincerely.

"Thank you." Fluttershy said, smiling back.


	19. Love

"You guys gonna be good for the night?" Alex asked. The three girls nodded.

"Of course. Don't worry about a thing." Rarity said with a reassuring smile.

"Alright. Thanks again, Evan, for watching them while I go to work. I'll be back tomorrow morning." He said with a nod.

"No worries, man. You can count on me. Now have fun sticking needles in people." Evan said with a wave. Alex chuckled.

"I will. Later." He said, waving to everyone before leaving finally, and shutting the door behind him. The four of them all sat back and relaxed.

"So, now what?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I brought one of my game systems over. We can play, I don't know, some Smash Bros. or something." Evan suggested.

"Smash Bros. What's that?" Fluttershy asked in wonder.

"A competitive fighting game. It's got Link from Legend of Zelda in it." Evan said in a sing-song voice.

"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah. It's got a bunch of different video game characters in it. It gets _really_ intense, it's fun!"

"We can give it a try. Can we all play?" Rarity asked.

"At the same time." Evan responded.

"Ooh, this is gonna be good." Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her hands together eagerly.

"Okay…let's run through it again, and change the angle a little bit…again…" Twilight sighed tiredly, signaling Discord to run through it again.

"Goodness gracious, Celestia help me, this little princess is going to kill me." Discord grumbled, beginning the scenario again.

The scene replayed, showing where Twilight and Starlight's beams collided. Discord gave it a minor adjustment, and allowed the scene to play out again, with the combined strength of their beams opening up the portal on the floor before Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy and Rarity.

"Alright, let's give it a try." Twilight said with another sigh. She and Starlight stood up, took the same positions as their simulated counterparts, and fired off the spell again, with no effect.

"Still nothing. Let's adjust again."

"Twilight, this is mind-numbing. We need to take a break." Starlight said with a groan, feeling just as tired as her. After shooting off the same spell so many times, their power was waning.

"Just…just one more time. We're close. I can feel it." Twilight urged with as much conviction as she could muster.

"In my modest but always correct opinion, princess, neither of you can afford to do this much more. You're reaching your limits. If I weren't reformed, this would be a perfect opportunity to imprison you in a chocolate barrier with a caramel filling…mmm…caramel."

"I know…but whatever we have left, we need to try." Twilight insisted.

"Maybe one more…but I'm beat. This has to be it for today." Starlight begged. Twilight nodded.

"Okay. Discord? One more time?" Twilight requested. Discord sighed and nodded.

"Alright, Twilight. I can do it once more for you." He said before snapping his fingers.

The scene resumed again. Twilight looked at it closely, and instructed for Discord to have the beams collide further down the line. He set it up for her. Starlight and Twilight took their places, and once again tried to enact the spell.

Their beams collided exactly as the simulation showed, and shot into the ground. However, this time, something did happen. The two of them felt resistance pushing back against them, and then the spell fizzled out. The two looked at each other.

"Did you feel that?" Starlight asked.

"I did. We need to take note of this! I think we found it!" Twilight exclaimed, quickly rushing to her notebook.

"You found it? Wonderful! I'll clear these characters then." Discord said, about to end the simulation. Both girls quickly shouted out.

"No!"

"Okay!" Discord shrieked.

"We need to mark down everything so we can replicate it exactly once we've mustered up our strength," Twilight said. "Spike, can you bring us some tape?"

"You got it! Just hold on Rarity, we're a-coming." Spike said as he hurried out the room.

"We finally have it." Starlight said with a relieved sigh.

"Now we need to rest, recover, and hope that we can find our friends on the other side." Twilight said.

"Oh oh, I got you now!" Rainbow Dash said, pressing the button for her final attack. She grapped Evan's character, unleashing a flurry of slash attacks that ended with her winning the match.

"Oh man! Fluttershy was distracting me man." Evan said with a chuckle, relaxing back.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Fluttershy said with a giggle. Evan glanced sideways at her.

"You're not sorry, are ya?"

"Well, I mean, maybe a little." She said. Evan chuckled,

"Whatever."

"Hey, why does Link look different in this game then he does in Breath of the Wild?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh, because different Zelda games have different Links. This Link is an older one." Evan explained simply.

"Oh, and Zelda is, like what, the princess?"

"Yep yep, Zelda's the princess and Link is the hero."

"And they're in love." Rarity said in a comically swooning manner. Evan snorted a bit.

"Eh, that's debatable." He said with a chuckle.

"Aww, but who doesn't love a good love story?" Rarity said with a giggle. Evan shrugged.

"Never said I didn't. They just don't really touch on Zelda and Link having any romantic relationship, which they really should." Evan voiced his opinion. They chuckled a bit.

"Eh, I guess they could, long as it's cool and not super sappy. Rarity likes the sappy stuff." She teased her. Rarity rolled her eyes.

"And if they included a love story in your Daring Do novels?"

"Ugh, I'm not sure about that. That would be kinda weird." Rainbow Dash said.

"If someone wants to fall in love, that's their choice, darling. Say, Evan, are you in love with anyone?" Rarity asked curiously.

"Nah. I'm ridin' solo right now."

"Bad example," Rarity said with a chuckle. "But the point still stands."

"What about you, Rarity? You got a Gucci boyfriend?" Evan asked.

"Gucci?"

"It's a clothing brand. I heard you're into fashion, soo…"

"Ohh, I see. And to answer your question, no I am not currently seeing anyone. Not for any particular reason, I just haven't found anyone of interest." Rarity said.

"She needs someone to match her level of Gucci." Rainbow Dash said, using Evan's phrase. He laughed at this.

"Right right yeah, he has to have at least four pairs of different sunglasses for every outfit." Evan added.

"Oh goodness, you love to exaggerate my work," Rarity giggled. "No, it doesn't need to be anything like that, but the last time I found myself infatuated with someone, it didn't turn out so well, so I'm simply taking my time."

"That makes sense. I could say the same, I guess."

"So none of us have a special someone." Fluttershy summarized.

"All the single ladies." Evan commented. Rainbow Dash snorted a bit.

"It sounds weird when you say it like that. Who needs one anyways?" She asked.

"You've never thought about it, Rainbow Dash, in all honesty?" Rarity asked curiously. Rainbow Dash shrugged.

"Not 'til now, since you're asking. He'd have to be a pretty cool dude, at least 80% as cool as I am." She said.

"So there can be at least a 20% difference? That's like a B. You can do better." Evan said with a teasing chuckle.

"Oh shush, not everyone can be as cool as I am."

"Cooler than an ice cube." He said. Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Exactly."

"What about you, Fluttershy?" Rarity asked. Fluttershy backed away a bit, feeling like she was being put on the spot.

"Um…well…I don't know. If he was nice, maybe…?" She said quietly. They all nodded supportively.

"Well, that's certainly an important quality to look for." Rarity said with a small chuckle.

"Yeah." Evan agreed with a thumbs up. Fluttershy nodded.

"Why are we talking so much about relationships so much? Come on now, Evan wants to lose again." Rainbow Dash taunted. Evan glanced over at her.

"Pfft, I was going easy. You haven't even seen my final form yet." Evan said.

"Bring it!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed competitively. Rarity and Fluttershy chuckled.

"You two are both children." Rarity giggled.


	20. Late Night Talk

Alex sat up with a start, huffing a bit. He looked around at his dark surroundings, hardly any light in the living room. He rubbed his forehead a bit and cleared his throat, coming down from his shock.

"Hmm… Alex? Is that you?" Rainbow Dash, who had been sleeping on the pull-out couch bed, rose her sleepy head up a little bit, looking over her shoulder.

"Yeah…yeah it's me. Morning." Alex said quietly, with an apparent exhaustion in his voice.

"When did you get back?" She asked, sitting up a little bit. Alex cleared his throat again.

"Uh…" He paused to check the time; 3:12 am. "Like an hour and a half ago. Fluttershy and Rarity took the bed, so I just came out here." Alex explained as he began to stand, walking to the kitchen to get some water.

"Oh…are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright, I just had a nightmare." Alex answered simply, gulping down a water bottle. Rainbow Dash sat up fully, and frowned a bit.

"A nightmare? A nightmare about what?" She asked.

"Eh, don't worry about it. It's not worth talking about." Alex said.

"Okay…you can talk to me, you know, right?" Rainbow Dash asked slowly.

"I'm okay." He said, trying to dismiss it. However, Rainbow Dash didn't drop it so easy.

"You'd be asleep right now if you were 'alright'. What's going on?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at him. Alex turned to her and their eyes met. He sighed.

"This work schedule is really rough on me sometimes, and when my sleep schedule is bad, I usually have nightmares of some kind." Alex explained.

"What kind of nightmares?"

"Eh, it really depends, I guess. Sometimes it has to do with monsters, other times it's traumatic events, and every once in awhile, I have sleep paralysis, where I'm conscious but I can't move my body at all." Alex listed off. Rainbow Dash's frown deepened.

"Gosh, that sounds awful. Which…which one did you have just now?" Rainbow Dash asked carefully. Alex came back around, sitting up where he had been sleeping on the couch.

"Sleep paralysis and monster, both of them." He answered, drinking more water.

"Yeesh, are you sure you're okay?" Rainbow Dash asked again.

"I will be. I just need some time to calm down again, then I can go back to sleep." Alex said with a nod, doing his best to be reassuring. In truth, he didn't know how long that would take him.

"Okay. I'll stay up with you." Rainbow Dash said.

"No, that's okay, you don't have to do that. It's late, or early, you should go to sleep." Alex said.

"And so should you, but I wanna make sure you're okay first." Rainbow Dash said. Alex paused, and then nodded.

"Okay."

"Let's just talk for a bit. How was work?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It was quiet really. Not a lot of people showed up. There was one guy whose hand was cut up from a broken beer bottle." Alex said.

"Ouch. How does that happen?"

"I don't know. Maybe he got in a fight. It's also possible he just accidentally set it down too hard or hit it against something and it shattered. Either way, he was bleeding pretty badly, and dealing with drunk people is always a struggle." Alex said, rolling his eyes a bit.

"Did you get him taken care of?"

"Yeah, I brought him in and helped clean up the bleeding, and then another guy got his hand wrapped up." Alex nodded.

"Nice. What's your favorite part about working in a hospital?" She asked. Alex hummed.

"Just helping people really. Like, the guy with the hand, most people don't know what to do in that situation, but we did, so we were able to fix him up. Stuff like that feels good, and people are usually appreciative." Alex said with a small smile.

"That's awesome. Is that why you chose to work there?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yep." Alex nodded.

"I'm not very good with first aid stuff." Rainbow Dash chuckled a bit.

"It's not that hard to learn. I could teach you." Alex offered.

"I could learn," Rainbow Dash giggled softly. "You never know when it could come in handy." She said.

"Exactly. Whenever you go back to that Equestrian place, you can pass it on." Alex said with a chuckled.

"Heheh, you know it's Equestria, not Equestrian, right? Equestria." Rainbow Dash corrected him.

"Yeah I know, I just call it that to mess with you." Alex said with a bit of a chuckle.

"Jerk." She said. He chuckled a little more.

"I know right? What's Equestria like? Tell me." Alex asked. Rainbow Dash adjusted how she was sitting.

"You wanna know? I thought you didn't believe us." She said. Alex simply shrugged.

"Still, tell me anyways." He urged her. Rainbow Dash nodded.

"It's a big place. Me and my friends usually meet up in Ponyville, which is where all of us either live or work. Twilight's castle is right next to it too."

"Castle, huh? She some kind of princess?" Alex asked in a half-joking manner.

"Yes, she's the princess of friendship. Remember how we were telling you about how we solve friendship problems?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I recall, yeah."

"That's why. Twilight kind oversees that stuff, as do we."

"Oh okay. So you live in Ponyville in Equestria?"

"No, I live nearby, in Cloudsdale. It's a city of clouds in the sky."

"Sounds fancy. How do you get up there?" Alex asked.

"I fly."

"You fly." Alex repeated.

"There's different kinds of ponies in Equestria. For example, Fluttershy and I are both pegasi, so we have wings. Rarity is a unicorn, so she has magic. Our friends Pinkie Pie and Applejack are both earth ponies, so they don't have wings or horns." Rainbow Dash explained.

"Oh. Alrighty… So, like, earth ponies couldn't get up to Cloudsdale?"

"Well, Twilight has a spell that can give wings to unicorns or earth ponies, so she could get you up that way." Rainbow Dash answered.

"So, this Twilight is a unicorn then." Alex said. Rainbow Dash shook her head.

"No. She used to be, but when she became a princess, she got wings, so she's an alicorn now. She has both a horn and wings."

"Oh, that's different. I've never heard of that before." Alex said with a thoughtful hum.

"Yeah. There's only like five alicorns, and Twilight's one of them. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are two others, and they rule over Equestria." Rainbow Dash continued.

"Oh, it's a monarchy. Interesting. A pony kingdom." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Uhuh. Let's see… What else do you wanna know?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, I guess while we're on the subject, maybe you can tell me the full story of how you three got here? Where is Equestria?"

"Are you sure you wanna know all that? It's not exactly what we've been letting on about it." Rainbow Dash said.

"I know, that's why I'm asking. I'd like to get the unaltered version of events." Alex said. Rainbow Dash nodded.

"The truth is: Equestria is on a totally different planet. This place of…humans, we don't have humans where we're from. When we got here, we had no idea what we were, and we're still not really sure, to be honest with ya.

"Our friends Twilight and Starlight were working on a 'long-distance' teleportation spell for our friendship missions, and right as they were about test it out on myself and the others, it was interrupted, and I guess they accidentally sent us a lot further, because we ended up in the forest not far from here." Rainbow Dash recounted the events.

"You were in the forest? And you ran here." Alex said.

"We needed a place for shelter for the night, because it was raining and we didn't have any clothes, and it was _really_ cold." She explained, shivering just from the thought of it.

"I see, and that's why you broke into my house. And it was empty at the time too."

"Yeah… We're really sorry. We know we've been really weighing you down, money-wise. There's just…we don't have anywhere else to go." Rainbow Dash said, saddening a bit. Alex quickly caught this.

"Hey, don't stress over it too much. It really isn't that bad. I mean, so what if things are a little tight for a bit? Money can be regained, but who would I be to kick out someone with no other options?" Alex said. Rainbow Dash nodded.

"We really can't thank you enough. I can't thank you enough. There's gotta be a way to repay you for all of this."

"Don't worry about all that," Alex waved it off. "So, if Twilight and Starlight were the ones that got you here, how come they haven't been able to get you back yet?" He asked.

"I have absolutely no idea. You'll have to ask them when they get here." Rainbow Dash said.

"I think I will. They're gonna get a piece of my mind." Alex said with a small chuckle. Rainbow Dash smiled.

"When they get here, then you'll see. We can show you Equestria, and you'll see that it is a real place, a really nice place." Rainbow Dash said.

"Mhmm. Still waiting to be proven wrong there." Alex said.

"Oh, you will be." She said in reply. Alex chuckled.

"Haha, yeah. Well, I'm gonna try and go back to sleep now. Thank you for staying up with me. I really do appreciate it." Alex said sincerely, even smiling at her. She smiled back and nodded.

"You're welcome. Goodnight." Rainbow Dash said, offering her arms out. This caught Alex off guard, and his eyebrows rose a bit. Immediately, she wanted to take it back.

However, Alex got up and rested his knee on the bed, leaning towards her and accepting her hug. They hugged briefly, but it was a warm hug. He let her go, and sat again, smiling awkwardly.

"Goodnight, Rainbow." He said before lying as he was in bed, turning away from her.

Rainbow Dash, lost in her own thoughts, stared at him a bit before going to sleep too…


	21. Intervention

Alex raised his head up a little bit, breathing in strongly through his nose as we woke up suddenly, just as he had earlier. It was clearly morning now, and he already knew that he wasn't gonna be able to go back to sleep for any longer.

He adjusted himself and sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. He cleared his throat a bit, and turned to reach for his water bottle on the ground next to him, and that's when he noticed that Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all sitting on the couch, fully dressed, looking at him.

"Hey there. Morning." Alex said to them, sitting up a bit more and beginning to rub his eyes and fix his nappy hair.

"Good morning, Alex. How are you feeling?" Fluttershy asked. Alex brushed a tired hand back through his hair.

"Fine, fine. I assume Rainbow Dash told you about last night?" Alex hummed.

"She did." Rarity nodded.

"Yeah. You don't have to worry about me. I'm okay, really, I am. Everyone has a rough night every once in a while." Alex said, getting comfortable lying somewhat on his side.

"We're glad you're feeling better. It seemed pretty bad." Rainbow Dash said.

"Yeah…what's up?" Alex asked, sensing that there was something else going on here.

"Um…well, we've been kind of worried about you lately." Fluttershy admitted. Alex squinted a little bit.

"Worried about me how?" Alex asked.

"We understand that we're still fairly new here, and it would be inappropriate for us to try and impose our views on you, but we're simply voicing some concerns of ours." Rarity started out.

"Yeah…?" Alex raised an eyebrow.

"We think you should change your job schedule." Rainbow Dash said.

"Huh?"

"As I was saying, Rainbow Dash, we don't mean to impose, but we do feel that you should at least take it into consideration." Rarity reiterated.

"And why would I do that?" Alex asked.

"It just seems to us like you're hurting yourself, Alex. When you come back from a late night, you look really tired, and then you don't sleep well, and it just seems like more harm than good." Fluttershy explained how they all saw it.

"Even you know it isn't good for you, Alex." Rainbow Dash added.

"I never said that it was. I know it has a negative effect on me. My options, however, are very limited, and I'd much rather suffer through this than completely cut off my income while I try to find another job." Alex said.

"You don't have to quit your job, but couldn't it be possible for you to acquire a better shift?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah, I could, but then I'd have to work an extra day or two each week in order to make up the difference, just so I'd be making the same. They pay me extra for working nights, plus the overtime that I typically add onto it." Alex explained his reasoning.

"But you're trading off your health." Fluttershy argued, maintaining a calm and kind tone.

"The extra off days gives me time to recover, and then I'm able to get my groceries, and I even have quite a bit of free time to shake it off, spend time with my friends. Is it ideal? Nah, but it works, and I've made it work for me." Alex said conclusively.

The three girls chose not to continue the debate any further, nodding silently. Rainbow Dash let out a slight sigh.

"We just wanna help." Rainbow Dash said.

"I understand that, and I appreciate it, but I'm fine as I am. Really, I'd prefer to do this and suffer from time to time than where I was at before I started living out on my own like this, so from that perspective, I'm happy here." Alex said.

"Alright. We just hope that you're okay." Fluttershy said quietly.

"Thanks. Don't think I'm trying to be rude when I ask this, but why the sudden concern about how my schedule is affecting me?" Alex asked curiously, sitting up fully now.

"It isn't really new; we're just bringing it up now." Rarity said.

"We really wish we could help you, and find a way to thank you for all that you've done for us since we got here, but we can't do anything except wait until Twilight gets here." Rainbow Dash said with a sigh.

"I guess when you're not used to it, it is concerning. I apologize if I worried you. I'm still not all the way adjusted to this, but that's life. You take out what you put in, you know?" Alex said.

"I suppose so. Things are just very different here." Rarity said with a slight shaking of her head.

"Yeah, well we can't all live on a pony planet." Alex said, getting up now and going to his room. The girls were silent until he went into the bathroom to shower.

"Well, that could've gone better." Rainbow Dash grumbled.

"Yes, well, we only hoped to get him to consider it, not to change his mind." Rarity said.

"I don't think we even did that." Fluttershy said honestly.

"I just don't get it. Why is he doing this to himself?" Rainbow Dash asked. The girls could only shake their heads.

"Whatever the reason, it must be of serious concern to him. It seems that making a living is the only way to really live in this world." Rarity said observantly.

"It's really stupid," Rainbow Dash said frankly. "Why is money so important anyways?"

"Money is important in Equestria too," Fluttershy said. "We just have never had to worry about it."

"And Alex does, clearly," Rarity continued off of Fluttershy's thought. "And it seems that's just the norm here."

"Yeah…" Rainbow Dash said, finding no other argument.

Alex came out a few minutes later in exercise clothes. He entered the kitchen, untangling his earbuds. The girls all glanced over at him again.

"Are you going on a walk?" Fluttershy asked.

"I am. Just gonna grab a quick bite before I go." Alex answered, looking through his pantry and grabbing two bars of food and water.

"Do you want us to come with you?" Rainbow Dash asked. Alex hummed.

"Nah, that's alright. I'mma be going down the street this time anyways, so it's not as exciting as the nature trail. I'll be back in an hour." Alex said.

"Okay. See you then…" Rainbow Dash responded quietly.

"See ya." Alex said before exiting the apartment.

Shutting the door behind him, he began walking out from the complex towards the road, just as he had told the girls. Once he hit the sidewalk, he began walking up the road.

He began to reflect on the conversation he'd just had with them. It was strange to him at first, that they would all of a sudden bring this up him, as if he were hurting himself and needed an intervention, for that's what it felt like to him.

However, as he began to reason on the intentions behind their actions, he came to the hard-to-believe conclusion that they were simply doing it out of concern and care for him. This was something that he certainly wasn't used to, having been living on his own for quite some time now.

It was strange really, he'd only really known these girls for a short two weeks, and yet he'd already grow kind of fond of them, and, as evidenced by what had just occurred, they seemed to care for him as well…

He could only imagine how that would play out when their friends arrived to take them home.

Although, he realized, that didn't necessarily have to be the end. Perhaps they'd be able to come back. Alex certainly would welcome them back if they ever did return. He would miss doing things with them otherwise:

Walking with Fluttershy, putting together outfits with Rarity (she made it fun), gaming with Rainbow Dash, going to the movies with them, so on and so forth. After considering how much time they'd spent together, their concern for him suddenly made a lot more sense.

His thoughts were interrupted by him and someone else accidentally bumping into each other. They both stumbled back and caught themselves.

"Ah! Jeez, I am so sorry. I wasn't paying attention where I was going." Alex said quickly. His eyes met that of a girl with a dark tan and straight black hair with a purple highlight in it.

"That's okay, I wasn't paying attention either." She said, brushing her hair to the side.

"Okay. Well, I'll get out of your way then." Alex said, maneuvering around the girl and continuing on his walk, putting his music back in.

The girl turned, eyeing him strangely before her attention was again redirected.

"Twilight, come on!" Starlight shouted to her.

"Coming! Sorry!" Twilight shouted, running after them…


	22. When In Equestria

"This world is very different from the mirror dimension human world… I feel like I look weird, do you think I look weird?" Twilight asked Starlight self-consciously.

"You're asking me? I think this whole place looks weird." Starlight answered in response.

"Fair enough. I just hope the girls are alright." Twilight said with a sigh.

"They couldn't have gone too far." Starlight said.

"In two weeks?"

"Eheh…let me rephrase that; they wouldn't have gone too far, I don't think." Starlight said.

"Probably not, but knowing Rarity, they've got to be staying somewhere." Twilight thought aloud.

"Yeah, that sounds about right, but then they don't have money to pay for anything. We've been scanning around this place for a day and we haven't seen anyp…anyone that resembles our friends, so where would they be staying at?" Twilight reasoned on the matter.

"Maybe they found help?" Starlight tried.

"Maybe, but from who? They don't know anyone here." Twilight asked.

"Twilight! Starlight! Check this out!" Applejack called to them. The other two went back up towards her voice, and they met with her and Pinkie Pie at the entrance to a forest trail.

"This is right up Fluttershy's alley. Any chance she could be 'round here?" Applejack asked.

"Maybe, but I don't see a whole lot of places to stay around here." Twilight said, looking around.

"Ooh, what about those funny looking rectangle houses over there?!" Pinkie pointed past Twilight to an apartment complex not too far down from the forest trail's entrance.

"I guess we could try asking around." Twilight said with a hum. The four of them all started walking down there.

"This place is so weird…what exactly are we?" Applejack asked.

"We are humans, Applejack: creatures that only walk on two legs and, apparently, come in different shades of beige and brown." Twilight said.

"Aww, but that's not _nearly_ as colorful as Equestria!" Pinkie Pie said.

"And yet, somehow, your hair managed to stay a little pink." Starlight said with a chuckle.

As they approached the parking lot of the apartment complex now, they watched as a car pulled in. Once it had parked, Twilight took the lead in approaching the driver as he got out. He turned around, and flinched a bit in surprise.

"Hello there. Sorry to bother you. My name is Twilight." She introduced herself. The gentleman leaned against his car and nodded.

"Hey there. What can I do ya for, honey?" He asked smoothly.

"We're looking for our friends. Have you perhaps heard of Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, or Rarity?" She asked. The man shook his head.

"Nah, doesn't ring a bell. I'm Jamal though, pleasure to meet ya."

"Haha, that's a funny name!" Pinkie Pie laughed. Twilight quickly shushed her.

"Pinkie, that's not nice. Sorry, we're new around here."

"I can tell. What were your friends' names again?" Jamal asked.

"Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity." Starlight repeated for him.

"Hmm… Would one of them happen to have different colors in her hair?"

"That sounds like Rainbow Dash, yep." Applejack nodded.

"You've seen her?" Twilight asked.

"Not really, but I can tell you who is seeing her."

" _And I know she'll be the death of me, at least we'll both be numb. And she'll always get the best of me, the worst is yet to come. All the misery was necessary when we're deep in love. This I know… This I know…"_

As Alex sang along to his song, Rainbow Dash was playing one of his racing games. Rarity and Fluttershy were sitting at the counter waiting for Alex to serve them lunch, and listening to Alex's unconscious singing.

"You have a good voice." Fluttershy said.

"What?" Alex stopped, turning around. He turned his music down a bit.

"I said you sing well." Fluttershy restated her compliment with a smile. Alex chuckled awkwardly.

"Heheh, thanks. I'm alright, I guess."

"You're better than alright, darling. Trust me, Fluttershy and myself were once part of a singing group. We know a good voice when we hear it." Rarity said, which made Alex even more awkward.

"Ehhh alright alright." Alex said, hoping they would ease off.

"Do you do a lot of singing?" Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

"Eh, just for fun when I'm driving or whatever. I've sung at a few parties when I was asked or when karaoke's involved, but that's really the most I've sung in public." Alex answered. The girls nodded.

"I see. Well, perhaps if we ever get you to Equestria you could sing with our group." Fluttershy said.

"Your group?"

"Yes: the Pony Tones, darling. We're an a cappella group. It consists of Fluttershy and myself, and three other members that we'll have to introduce you to." Rarity explained. Alex nodded.

"Okay. Well, I like a cappella. I've always wanted to be a part of something like that."

"Perhaps we could give you a demonstration of one of our songs?" Rarity suggested.

"Sure. I'm down for that." He said as he turned around and paused his music before going back to finishing up making them lunch.

As he finished up, Rarity and Fluttershy began to quietly discuss amongst themselves how they were going to sing their song between just the two of them. It took a little deliberation, but they quickly came up with a plan, and as lunch was served, Alex and Rainbow Dash turned their attention to the two of them with excitement and anticipation.

"We're ready." Rarity said with a nod.

"Alright." Alex nodded, leaning back against the opposite counter and listening intently. The girls looked at each other and began to sing:

" _Trot outside and you see the sunshine. Something's in the air today. Sky is clear and you're feelin' so fine. Everything's gonna be a-okay._

" _If you listen carefully, on every corner there's a rhythm playing…_

" _Then it happens suddenly, the music takes you over and you'll find you've got the music, find you've got the music in you. Find you've got the music, find you've got the music in you._

" _Everyone's sayin' you should learn to express your voice, but if talk doesn't seem like it's the answer luckily you have a choice._

" _When you find you've got the music, got the music in you. Find you've got the music, got the music in you, got the music, got the music in you._

" _There's music in the treetops, and there's music in the vale. There's music by the river, and there's music in the grass. And the music makes your heart soar in reply._

" _When you find you've got the music, you've got to look inside and find, find you've got the music, find you've got the music in you!"_

When they had finished, Alex began to clap a bit, looking incredibly impressed. Rainbow Dash chuckled and clapped as well.

"That sounds good between the two of you." Rainbow Dash commented.

"Thank you, dear. Obviously some parts had to be filled in since it's just us two, but we made it work." Rarity said with a smile.

"What do you think?" Fluttershy asked Alex.

"That was…amazing! Ya'll were harmonizing and passing lines back and forth. Man! That was _really_ impressive." He said with a grin. The girls giggled.

"We're glad you like it. You should hear how it sounds when all 5 of us perform." Rarity said with a giggle.

"Oh, I'm sure it sounds awesome. Do you have beat boxing in your a cappella group?" Alex asked curiously. The girls drew a blank expression.

"Beat boxing…? What is that?" Fluttershy asked. Alex's eyebrows folded a bit.

"You've never heard of that?"

"Perhaps we have, and just never heard the technical term for it." Rarity said.

"Probably. It's like…keeping a beat just by making noises with your mouth."

"…how?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Uh, well…let me just show you. Rarity, Fluttershy, would you mind singing the song again, just a piece of it?" Alex requested. They shrugged and nodded, taking a breath before starting again.

This time as they sang, Alex, after nodding along for a bit, began to beatbox to it, adding a new liveliness to the song. The girls singing glanced at each other, and began to nod along to Alex's beat, using it to keep in time with their song.

"It goes like that." Alex said, catching his breath after they'd gotten through about the first verse and chorus.

"Now _that_ is awesome." Rainbow Dash said with a grin.

"I think it's clear now that we should introduce you to the group." Rarity said with a laugh.

"It's been such a long time though, Rarity, are you sure we can get in touch with all of them?" Fluttershy asked. Rarity nodded confidently.

"Of course we can, darling. They're in close reach, I'll just send a few quick letters out." Rarity said.

"I admit, I wanna hear more of what you guys have got after hearing that." Alex said with a chuckle.

There was a knock at the door in that moment. The four of them all turned towards the door, then the girls looked towards Alex, whose eyebrows had furrowed deeply.

"Is that Evan?" Fluttershy asked hopefully.

"No… I wasn't expecting anyone today." Alex said as he came up to the door and opened it up.

"Hello, are you Alex?" The girl standing on the other side asked. Alex tilted his head a bit, glancing at the other three girls standing behind her. Then she took another look at the girl in front who had asked the question.

"Didn't I see you walking around the other day?" Alex asked slowly.

"Umm…actually yes! We bumped into each other. Sorry."

"It's fine. Um, what can I help you with?" Alex asked.

"Hi, uh, I'm Twilight, and these are-"

"Twilight?" Alex asked.

"Twilight?!" The girls exclaimed from inside Alex's apartment...


	23. Besties

Alex watched as these four girls that seemingly showed up out of nowhere entered into his apartment, and hugged Rainbow Dash and Rarity and Fluttershy in what was clearly a happy reunion. He was really just completely confused; what was going on here?

"You guys _finally_ found us! What took you so long?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh my gosh, it took so long for us to figure out where you guys even _went_. When we finally got here is what was the easy part, but we had to recreate the accident from scratch first, and that was hard!" Twilight explained.

"It took a lot of calculating and a lot of long nights, but it finally paid off." Starlight said with a relieved nod and smile.

"Are you girls okay?! Are you hurt?" Applejack asked urgently. They shook their heads.

"Not at all, dear. Luckily, we found ourselves this gentleman, his name is Alex. He has graciously been allowing us to stay here in his apartment all this time." Rarity said, introducing him to the others.

Suddenly, the other girls were surrounding him, bombarding him with thank you's and questions all at the same time. It was so overwhelming that Alex nearly fell backwards trying to put more distance between himself and them.

"Don't kill him now!" Rainbow Dash said with a laugh.

"Sorry, we're all a little excited. But we can't thank you enough for taking care of our friends." Twilight said. Alex nodded.

"Yeah, no problem. Glad to see that you guys finally showed up. The girls were worried about how long it was gonna take." Alex said.

"We're mighty grateful, sugarcube." Applejack said with a tip of her hat.

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome. Um, so Fluttershy and the others have told me some about you, but I guess it's good to get properly introduced." Alex said with an awkward chuckle.

"Right, of course. I'm Twilight, as I already said." She said with a nod.

"The name's Applejack!"

"And I'm Pinkie Pie!"

"I'm Starlight, nice to meet you." She said with a nod, offering her hand. He shook it.

"Nice to meet you too. Nice to meet you all. If I remember correctly, Applejack, you're a farmer. Pinkie Pie, I hear you make delicious desserts. And Twilight is supposed to be the one to prove to me that magic is real." Alex surmised.

"Yep!" Rainbow Dash said.

"Nice memory." Fluttershy said.

"I'm guessing the girls have told you a lot already about where we come from." Twilight said. Alex nodded.

"Mhmm, in great detail. However, I find a lot of it difficult to believe." He admitted.

"What's hard to believe about Equestria?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Well, it's pretty clear this world is _very_ different from ours, so I can understand. There's a lot about this world that we don't understand either." Twilight said in response.

"Huh, Rarity said something similar." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Mhmm. We were hoping you could show him a little of what you can do, Twilight." Rainbow Dash said.

"Of course, but we can save that for later. We should probably get you girls back, let everypony know that you're alright. We've been worried sick." Twilight said.

"Oh! Yeah right, um…about that…" Rainbow Dash coughed.

"You girls don't wanna go back?" Applejack asked abruptly.

"Of course we do! It's just…you know, what's the rush?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I would like to see Evan again before we go back." Fluttershy said.

"I really should be getting back…but we _can_ _come back,_ can't we?" Rarity asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure we can. Now that we have the calculations down, it'll be much easier to go back and forth." Starlight answered.

"It doesn't even require the both of us to do it anymore. Just one." Twilight added.

"Oh, good! In that case, I'll go back tomorrow." Rainbow Dash said.

"Tomorrow?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"No, um, that's fine, I actually would like to learn more about this world. So maybe I'll stay." Twilight said.

"How about we switch places then, darling? Would that be alright, Alex?" Rarity asked.

"Sure, that'd be okay," Alex nodded. "You're free to come visit as you like."

"Ohh okay, can I come visit too?!" Pinkie Pie asked excitedly.

"We'll come back tomorrow." Starlight said with a chuckle.

"Tomorrow?!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed again. The girls snickered a bit.

"We'll be waiting for you when you get back, Pinkie." Fluttershy said with a smile.

"Yeah, and then you can see some of the awesome stuff we've seen here!" Rainbow Dash said, giving Pinkie a hug.

"Okay, that sounds good." Pinkie Pie said with a smile.

"We heading back then?" Starlight asked.

"Could we, please? I really need to see Sweetie Belle again." Rarity pleaded. Starlight nodded.

"Alright. We'll see you all then. Don't go anywhere." Starlight said with a chuckle.

"I don't know. They've tried to run away a few times." Alex said sarcastically.

"No we haven't!" Rainbow Dash said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I'm just kidding. They actually did the opposite, they broke in." Alex said, giving Rainbow Dash a mischievous grin.

"You broke in?" Twilight asked.

"Uhh…oh well, we really must be going. We'll see you tomorrow." Rarity said, getting up.

"Yes, we will." Starlight said with a nod.

"And Alex? Thanks again, for everything," Rarity said, hugging him tightly. "I'll have something special for you when you come to Equestria." She promised.

"Oh, don't worry about all that," Alex said, hugging her back. "And you're welcome. Get home safe." He said with a smile.

The girls all waved them off and left, leaving Alex with Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and now Twilight in place of Rarity. Twilight took a seat on the couch, and smiled politely up at Alex.

"This is a nice little place you have here."

"Thank you." He said, taking a seat adjacent to her.

"It's a huge relief that you finally made it. Has anything happened in Equestria while we were gone?" Fluttershy asked.

"No, thankfully. Just we've all been worried about you, and of course, the animals have been worried about you, Fluttershy. I also explained a bit of what happened to Spitfire, Rainbow Dash, and she wanted me to let you know that you'll have a lot to make up when you come back." She relayed.

"Ah man, that just means extra practice and cleanup duty!" Rainbow Dash groaned.

"Heh, that sucks." Alex chuckled.

"So, what've you been up to with Alex while we were trying to find you?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Alex showed us around the area a little bit. We've gone on walks; we went to see a few movies." Fluttershy answered.

"He also showed us some really cool video games!" Rainbow Dash said with a laugh.

"Haha, nice. So, you were basically keeping them entertained?" Twilight said with a giggle. Alex chuckled.

"Kinda. We've all been just hanging out since we've all gotten to know each other and gotten comfortable and everything. I'd just gotten used to seeing these girls every day too." Alex said with a chuckle.

"That's really nice, and it's a huge relief to see that our best friends were in such good hands. It seems you made a new best friend, huh, girls?" Twilight said with a chuckle.

"Ayy, I'm cool with calling ya'll besties." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Besties it is then." Fluttershy said with a giggle.

"Besties." Rainbow Dash repeated with a nod, not saying anything else.

"That's good. In time, you'll get to know all of our friends, if you'd like to." Twilight said. Alex nodded.

"I've got no problems with that. They all seem like cool people." Alex said with a smile.

"They're the coolest, well, not quite as cool as me, but a close close second." Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle. Alex chuckled as well.

"Yeah, Dash has the swag factor." Alex said.

"Swag," Twilight repeated with a snicker. "You could call it that." She teased.


	24. Levitation

"Oh, come on, _another_ knockout? You gotta be kidding me, Alex." Rainbow Dash groaned. Alex chuckled, setting his controller down next to him.

"Maybe if you learned to play a little defense, Rainbow, you wouldn't get hit all the time." Alex said with a shrug.

"But defense doesn't win games."

"It doesn't lose games either." Alex responded.

"Pssh, whatever." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and huffed a bit.

"He has a point." Fluttershy giggled a bit.

"I'm wondering, wouldn't a game like this divide friendships rather than bring them closer?" Twilight said in wonder.

"I mean, if you take it too personally, probably, but who doesn't love a little competition among friends? Me and my buddies get real into this game when we play." He said with a chuckle. Twilight shrugged and nodded.

"I can understand that. I'm sure Rainbow Dash would probably fit right in." Twilight said with a giggle.

"I don't know man. I think my friends might be scared to beat you." Alex said to her with a laugh.

"What? Why?"

"Just making a joke about your intensity," Alex said with a chuckle, getting up. "Can I get ya'll anything? I'mma grab a soda." Alex offered them. They shook their heads.

"No thank you." Fluttershy said with a smile.

"Alright." Alex nodded as he went to the kitchen.

"So, Alex, what do you do here? For work, I mean." Twilight asked.

"I'm a nurse. I work at the hospital downtown." Alex answered.

"Ahh, okay. Do you like it?"

"I do. It's hard work," Alex chuckled. "The hours are killer, but it pays the bills." He answered.

"I see." Twilight nodded.

"Not to be rude, Twilight, but he has been having some issues with his scheduling." Fluttershy brought up.

"Oh?" Twilight asked, looking at Alex. Alex cleared his throat.

"No, no issues. I just work the night shift is all. These two and Rarity have expressed some concerns about it because of how my schedule affects my sleep." Alex explained, popping his soda can open.

"I see. However, I know my friends, and if they feel the need to bring it up, it probably isn't good for you." Twilight said, coming to their defense.

"I know that. I'm aware of how my schedule negatively affects me. The fact of the matter is I just don't have a choice in the matter. I need the off days, and this is just the necessary trade-off. As I told them before, I appreciate the concern, but I simply can't afford to change it." Alex said.

"I understand. You have to do what you have to do." Twilight said with a nod. Alex nodded in response, and then his phone began to vibrate. He checked it.

"Sorry, I have to take this. I'll be right back." Alex said, retreating to his bedroom for the time being.

"Twilight, what was that? That was the chance to talk him out of it." Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Rainbow Dash is right. That was a good time to say something." Fluttershy agreed.

"I know, but talking wasn't going to change his mind. You heard him, it's the money that's making him struggle, and that's something that talking can't really help." Twilight said as she shook her head.

"But…you do wanna do something." Rainbow Dash said, leaning a little closer.

"Of course. Alex helped you out a lot, and if he's your friend, he's my friend too. I'm sure with a little research, I can find a way to pay him back, and then some." Twilight said with a smile.

"You're the best, Twilight." Fluttershy said, giving her a hug. Rainbow Dash did the same. Twilight simply giggled.

"Alright I'm back. Sorry, work was calling and they… Am I interrupting something here?" Alex asked, setting his phone in his pocket.

"No, nothing at all." Fluttershy replied.

"Work called again?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yep," Alex nodded. "They want me to come into work tomorrow afternoon."

"And?" Fluttershy asked.

"I said sure."

"Oh." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"It's alright. Evan's gonna be coming over anyways. He can chill with ya'll 'til I come back." Alex said.

"Evan's coming over?" Fluttershy asked, perking a bit.

"Yep. I'm sure he'll be happy to come see ya," Alex said with a chuckle. "Evan helped me out a little with the handful that was these three. He's my best friend." Alex said to Twilight.

"Ah, okay, well I look forward to meeting him." Twilight said with a smile.

"Mhmm," Alex hummed, sitting again. "Hey, listen, sorry for coming down so strong on ya'll. I understand your concerns, and I know you mean well, but it just isn't in the cards, you know?" Alex said to them seriously.

"It's okay, Alex. Don't worry about it," Twilight said. "There's something else that we'd like to do about it instead." Twilight brought up.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"Well, to put it simply-" Fluttershy began before Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"We wanna pay you back!"

"Oh no, you don't gotta do all that, Twilight. I can make that money back pretty quickly, just a few extra days here and there for the next few weeks." Alex said, shaking his head a bit.

"That's okay, we're gonna pay you back anyways. I can set money aside for you to help you." Twilight said.

"You _really_ don't have to do that." Alex insisted. However, Twilight's mind was made up.

"But we're going to, so you might as well take it."

"Okay." Alex finally agreed with a nod.

"It's the least we can do." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah, I mean, you were crazy enough to help total strangers. They just happen to have magical abilities." Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle, nudging him a bit.

"Magical abilities," Alex repeated. "Right, you still need to show me those." Alex remembered. Twilight's head tilted back a bit.

"Yes, right."

"Oh man, I can't wait to see the look on your face." Rainbow Dash said with an excited snicker.

"Let's see it." Alex said, his full attention on Twilight now.

"Okay, um…let's see, what could I show you?"

"Maybe just lift something?" Fluttershy suggested.

"Sure. Seems easy enough." Twilight said.

Taking a quick glance around the living room, her eyes fell onto one of Alex's couch throw pillows. Concentrating on it, her magical aura appeared around it, and it began to float slowly towards them.

Far from surprised, however, Alex started to back up, and stood up, his eyes wide and looking more fearful than impressed. Seeing this, the girls grew concerned, and Twilight's concentration was broken enough so that the pillow fell to the floor with a plop.

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked quickly. Alex's eyes darted a little bit.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine." Alex answered, his eyes still wide with shock.

"He looks terrified." Fluttershy observed.

"I am…a little." Alex admitted.

"You're not supposed to be terrified! You're supposed to be like, 'Wow, that's awesome! You were totally right, Rainbow Dash!'" Rainbow Dash said.

"Sorry, I'm just…we don't have _that_ here. I'm not used to seeing that." Alex said.

"You don't have any sort of magic here?" Twilight asked.

"Magic is a very iffy subject for some people. Some don't believe it exists, others do."

"And what do you believe?" Twilight asked.

"The only kind of magic I've ever heard of or encountered has been evil, the stuff of nightmares and horror stories." Alex said.

"Oh gosh." Twilight said with an exhale.

"Yeah. Considering you're from, like, another world, I imagine that's just an ability you have there. Just…don't do it here. You could really scare people, or worse, attract the wrong kind of people." Alex warned her.

"Oh, uh, okay." Twilight said with a swallow. The tone with which he said this to her all but made incredibly clear the seriousness in what he was saying, which scared them just a little bit.

"So, you believe us now?" Fluttershy asked.

"Well, yeah, hard to argue with that." Alex said.

"Yeah. You're okay, right?" Rainbow Dash asked. Alex nodded, looking more relaxed.

"I am. Just thinking now… So, there really is a world of magical ponies called Equestria… Sounds like some weird cartoon or something."

"I assure you, it's as real as you and me." Twilight said, standing up.

"Do you think we could take him to see it?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Honestly, do you think he could handle it after how he just reacted to a little levitation?" Twilight asked.

"I could see it." Alex said. The girls looked to him again.

"Really?" Fluttershy asked.

"Sure. I mean, I need a little time to mentally prepare, but then sure, I'd like to see this world for myself." Alex said certainly.

"Okay. We'll plan for it then." Twilight agreed.


	25. Relationship Talk

"Hey, Rainbow Dash? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Fluttershy asked quietly, gesturing for her to come over.

It was half past noon at Alex's apartment. Alex was out on his walk, and Twilight was in the shower, leaving just the two of them alone for an apparently private conversation. Rainbow Dash made her way over to Fluttershy.

"What's up, Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Um," Fluttershy took another subtle glance around before speaking up again. "So, you know how Evan is coming over soon?" She asked carefully. Rainbow Dash nodded slowly.

"Yeah…?"

"Um, well…lately, I've been having these…feelings about Evan. And, I don't really understand it, because we've only talked so much, you know?" Fluttershy began to explain her inner confusion.

"Mhmm? Fluttershy…are you saying that you…like Evan? Like, like like?" Rainbow Dash asked quietly, nearly whispering to her.

"I think so… I don't know what else to call it." Fluttershy admitted.

"Uhh, well that's great! I really don't know a lot about this kind of stuff though," Rainbow Dash admitted with a chuckle. "Maybe you should ask Rarity about it." She suggested.

"I probably will when I see her... Have you really never had this feeling before?" She asked. Rainbow Dash shrugged and shook her head.

"Never really thought about it, I guess. That kind of stuff is so ridiculous to try and figure out anyways. Ponies used to ask me about that with Soarin' a little bit just 'cause we're comfortable around each other. I honestly have never thought about it." Rainbow Dash repeated it.

"What about…Alex?" Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash's head turned slightly away from her.

"What about Alex?"

"Well, you know, you two have a lot in common. And you seem comfortable with him too. Rarity even figured a little bit-"

"What, me and Alex? No, no, he's cool and all, but…but…"

"But…what?"

"I-I don't know. I…never thought about it?" Rainbow Dash answered slowly, with less certainty than she had before. Fluttershy giggled a bit.

"Maybe you need to talk to Rarity too, Rainbow Dash."

The door opened, and in Alex came with Evan right behind him. They smiled.

"Hello, ladies." Evan greeted them with a chuckle.

"Evan! It's good to see you again!" Fluttershy said, getting up and hugging him. Evan hugged her back with a chuckle.

"Mhmm," Alex hummed with a chuckle. "Go on a date already." He said in a teasing manner.

"Shut up man." Evan chuckled.

"How are you?" Fluttershy asked with a giggle.

"Oh, you know, alive."

"Unfortunately." Alex chuckled.

"It's been an extra tough week, but I'm off the next few days, which I'm happy about. So it's my turn to stop by today." Evan said.

"We're happy to see you again." Fluttershy said.

"Yeah man, glad you finally showed up." Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight came out of the shower, adjusting the back of her hair as she came out. She glanced over, and saw that there was company.

"Oh! Hello there. You must be Alex's friend. I'm Twilight." She introduced herself, making her way over and shaking hands with Evan.

"Woahhh, their friends finally showed up? Does that mean they're heading home soon? Why didn't you say something man?!" Evan asked.

"Shut up, Evan. Listen to what she has to say." Alex said, leaning against the counter and glancing at Twilight.

"I wanted to thank you too for helping Alex in taking care of my friends. We're happy they're safe, and as a thank you, we'd like to take you both to Equestria on an off day for both of you." Twilight said.

"Um, you planning on paying for the flight costs? 'Cause I don't really have that kind of time or money." Evan said.

"Show 'im." Alex urged her further.

Twilight nodded, causing a basket of fruit to float the same way she had done with Alex's pillow the night before. Evan displayed a similar reaction as well.

"Bruh, you brought a witch into your crib?!"

"A witch?!" Twilight exclaimed, almost dropping the fruit.

"No, man. That stuff about magical ponies that the girls were talking about? It's real." Alex said.

"You're kidding." Evan said.

"Nah, I'm not. And they want to take us there."

"Uh…but I got…to fix my car." Evan said slowly.

"Look man, we're going to another planet. Do it later. Or better yet, let's plan for Saturday, okay? That's, what, three days for us to prepare ourselves?" Alex said.

"It'll take us only a few minutes to get there." Twilight said.

"A few minutes? What, you got a transportation spell or something? Oh my god, she has a transportation spell, doesn't she?"

"I do, actually," Twilight giggled a bit. "My friend Starlight and I wrote it."

"Dude, they wrote a spell, like it was a song or something." Evan said, his excitement beginning to grow.

"Right?! That's what I said!" Alex said with a laugh. The girls giggled.

"So, will you come?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Count me in. You can count him in too, just let him get over himself." Alex said, smacking his hand on Evan's chest.

"Yeah. Yeahhh count me in too. Once in a lifetime opportunity, what can I say? This guy says we Gucci, then we Gucci." Evan agreed.

"Good… I guess." Twilight giggled.

"Haha, alright, well, I'mma shower real quick before I go for my shift, so excuse me. Good luck, Evan." Alex said, brushing past Rainbow Dash on his way to his room.

"Good luck?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeahhh, since Alex can't keep his mouth shut, I might as well. I was gonna ask you, Fluttershy, if you'd like to join me for-for lunch sometime. Sayyy, Friday?" Evan asked.

"Sure! I mean…sure." Fluttershy nodded with a smile.

"Great! Cool." Evan smiled and nodded awkwardly.

"Woo woo!" Alex shouted from the hall as he went into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

"Oh, darling, it's wonderful that you and Evan are going on a date. I wish you the best!" Rarity said with a grin.

"A d-d-date?" Fluttershy repeated nervously.

"Yes, love, a date. That's what you agreed to." Rarity said with a giggle.

"Oh. What do I- What do I do?" Fluttershy asked.

"You want my advice on the date?"

"Yes, please. I-I don't know what I should do."

"Oh, darling, all you need to do is just be yourself. After all, he asked you. Do you like him? Like, like like?" Rarity asked.

"I think so." Fluttershy answered with a nod.

"Then good, just go with that. You'll see, if it's meant to work out, you'll feel comfortable with him." Rarity said.

"Okay...comfortable. Thank you, Rarity." Fluttershy said with a smile.

"It's gonna be great, Fluttershy. You'll see." Rainbow Dash said reassuringly.

"It will be." Fluttershy said hopefully.

"Now, Rainbow Dash, it is my understanding that you also have something you'd like to ask me?" Rarity asked curiously with a hum.

"Right, um yeah… So…ugh this is embarrassing."

"Don't be shy, darling, we've known each other a long time. You can tell me anything!" Rarity said.

"Okay… I'm wondering how to tell if I like Alex." Rainbow Dash said, holding in a breath after getting out.

"Oh." Rarity said with some surprise after a small gasp.

"See?"

"No no, dear, it isn't that, I just… You're not somepony I particularly thought would be looking for a special somepony."

"Well, I wasn't, but… Fluttershy asked, and I don't know, so I wanna know for sure." Rainbow Dash said.

"I see. Well, how would you describe him?" Rarity asked.

"Uh, well…he's weird, but he's funny, he's cool too sometimes." Rainbow Dash described.

"Well, it's evident that you enjoy his company. The fact that you describe him as cool is a good sign too." Rarity said observantly.

"She's comfortable around him." Fluttershy added.

"Yes yes, I've noticed that myself. That's really good too. Darling, you don't need my advice." Rarity said.

"Really?"

"No, all you need to do is just spend some time with him, decide on what to do, and if you decide to move forward with this, simply tell him how you feel."

"Really? But-but, I don't know if I should do it."

"That's your decision, darling, and it's okay either way. Two things though: one, we were firsthand recipients of his generosity and kindness; that kind of empathy and care is valuable to a relationship. And secondly:

"Ask yourself this; if you decided not to confess your feelings to Alex, do you think you would regret it later?"

Rainbow Dash pondered over this, but she didn't have an answer yet…


	26. First Date

"So, where would you like to go?" Evan asked, turning to Fluttershy with him in the passenger seat.

"Um, I don't know…" Fluttershy said bashfully.

"Oh yeah, sorry, stupid question. Um, um, you in the mood for some ice cream?" He offered. She nodded.

"Sure. That sounds nice." She answered with a smile.

"Ice cream it is then." He said with a nod, pulling out of his parking spot and pulling away from Alex's apartment where he had picked her up.

"So, how are you doing today, Evan?" She asked him. Evan shrugged.

"Can't complain. I'm great actually. I slept in and everything, and now here we are." He said with a smile. Fluttershy smiled back.

"Mhmm. I'm excited."

"Me too, for real."

"Maybe a little nervous too." Fluttershy admitted softly, her voice dropping a bit.

"Heheh, glad it isn't just me," Evan let out a breathy chuckle. "But we'll get some ice cream, we'll chat, and it'll be a great time." Evan said, his voice getting higher in pitch towards the end of his sentence. Flutteshy giggled.

"Okay."

"So, you have three siblings?" Fluttershy asked. Evan hummed and nodded, sitting across from Fluttershy and handing her ice cream to her.

"Yep. It's a busy family." He said with a chuckle.

"Sounds like it," Fluttershy said with a giggle. "But you had company."

"Yes, I did, all the time…all the time," Evan chuckled. "They're all older now, doing their own thing really, finding their own way." Evan said with a nod.

"And what about you?" Fluttershy asked.

"What about me?"

"Well, what's your path?"

"Heheh, that's a deep question. I don't know really. I work with computers, which is what I wanted, I spend time with friends every once in awhile. Things are good right now. I'm not really thinking that far into the future right now." Evan admitted.

"I understand. I can't say that I am right now either. I think I'm doing well, I'm in a good place, just working on some things." Fluttershy said with a nod.

"What kind of things?" He asked curiously.

"Oh, well, you see, I used to be really shy...more so than I am now. I had a hard time even talking to ponies and standing up for myself. Rainbow Dash had to look out for me for a long time, but now I'm trying to get better at standing up for myself." Fluttershy explained.

"Ah yeah, I get that. If you don't stand up for yourself, people are always gonna try to walk all over you." Evan agreed with the sentiment.

"Mhmm. With the help of Rainbow Dash and my other best friends, I've gotten a lot better at it. I just try not to get carried away. That's happened a few times…" Fluttershy pressed her lips together. Evan chuckled a bit.

"Heheh, well, that's okay too, it takes time. I used to have that kind of problem too." Evan said.

"Really? You don't seem like you'd have problems with shyness now." Fluttershy said.

"I used to. I used to get really nervous when it came to expressing myself, worried about how other people would judge me."

"That _is_ the same problem that I had!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"Mhmm. It got better over time because, well, it had to. My cousins helped me out with that just helping learn how to do stuff that gave me more confidence." Evan explained.

"That's really nice." Fluttershy said with a warm smile.

"Mhmm, so I gotchu when you say you struggled with that." Evan recounted. She nodded.

"What are your talents, Evan? What would you say you're good at?" Fluttershy asked curiously. Evan shrugged.

"Um, I'm a pretty decent dancer, although, I kinda feel like I just do the same stuff, but everyone always likes it, so yeah. I sing a _little_ bit, but I'm so-so there, I like to rap, and I enjoy working on music on my laptop." Evan summarized.

"Oh, that's really cool! You and Alex must have fun with that, since you both like those things." Fluttershy commented. Evan hummed in agreement.

"Oh yeah, we used to do that stuff together, but lately we've both been too busy, you know?" Evan said. Fluttershy nodded.

"I understand. Rarity was thinking about introducing Alex to the Pony Tones, it's a singing group that she and I are both a part of. You should come too, I think it would be really nice." Fluttershy offered.

"That sounds awesome. I'd definitely enjoy that, you can count me in." Evan agreed with a chuckle. Fluttershy giggled as she set down her finished cup of ice cream.

"Thank you for the ice cream."

"You're welcome." Evan said with a smile.

"Are we gonna head back?" Fluttershy asked.

"In a little bit. We still got time."

"Good." Fluttershy nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, we can't end things too quickly." Evan chuckled.

"I would've been a little upset if we had to end our date now." Fluttershy said honestly.

"Right? Oh, I know where we can go. It's a spot that my friends and I like to visit whenever we're in this area." Evan said, getting up.

"Ooh, it's close by?" Fluttershy asked.

"Just across the street." Evan answered before taking the trash and going to throw it away. Fluttershy stood up when he came.

"I'm ready to go." She said with a nod.

"Dope, then let's go." He said, gesturing for her to follow him. She did so, coming up alongside him.

As they approached the sidewalk to cross the street, Fluttershy idly stood by him, looking at him, and then allowing her eyes to trail down his arm. She stepped in a little closer, bringing her arm up to link with his. He looked down at her with a chuckle, linking arms with her.

"Little old fashioned, but I like it." He said with a smile. Fluttershy simply giggled a bit in response.

They crossed the street to the other side of the plaza, and began to walk together up the sidewalk towards the undisclosed location that Evan was taking her to.

"So, since you are actually a pony from a magical land, what kind of pony are you?" Evan asked curiously. Fluttershy chuckled a bit.

"I am a pegasus, so I have wings." Fluttershy answered simply.

"Ooh. Could I have wings? Actually, no nevermind, I'm terrified of heights." Evan admitted with a laugh.

"It's okay. I'm afraid of heights too. I prefer to stay closer to the ground." Fluttershy said.

"A pegasus that's afraid of heights? Aww, that's…actually kind of adorable." Evan said.

"Thank you." Fluttershy said with a slight blush and an awkward chuckle, hugging his arm.

At this point the two of them approached their destination: a piano store. Evan opened the door for her and they entered. Fluttershy looked around the quiet store that was filled with pianos. Evan waved to the owner before joining Fluttershy, speaking in a quiet tone.

"What do you think?" He asked her.

"I've never seen so many pianos in one place. It's really nice." Fluttershy complimented.

"It is nice. They let us come in here and play with these pianos that have headphones." He said, taking her over to one of the pianos that had a set of headphones plugged in.

"Oh, this is cool." She said, putting on the headphones and beginning to play a few notes on the piano with an interested smile. Evan watched her for a bit with a chuckle.

"Let me show you this." He said softly before leaning over the piano, listening through one side of the headphones for the faint sound of the notes. His fingers searched for a bit until he found what he was looking for.

He began to play a melody he knew by memory, allowing his hands to bounce in time with the rhythm of the song. Fluttershy giggled a bit as she remembered the song, and glanced over at him.

" _And now that it's over, I'll never be sober. I couldn't believe…but now I'm so high."_

Evan sang quietly in a mumbling sort of way, but Fluttershy still listened with a grin.

"You sound nice."

"Thank you. I hear you sound better though." Evan said with a chuckle.

"When you come to meet the Pony Tones, you'll see then." Fluttershy said, hugging him.

Evan chuckled as he hugged her back with one arm, allowing her to come in closer than she had before. She smelled quite nice. Finally, after debating back and forth in his head, he leaned his head down and planted a soft kiss on her cheek…


	27. Tour of the World

"You know, it's a good thing I trust ya'll, because otherwise you would not catch me dead out here, the police eventually would." Evan said as he, Alex, Starlight, Twilight, and the others all made their way into the woods where this had all began.

"Don't be so dramatic. It isn't that far." Rainbow Dash said with a chuckle.

"I'm a little nervous." Alex admitted with a chuckle.

"Why?" Starlight asked curiously.

"First time on another planet, you know? Just pre-travel jitters." Alex answered with an odd chuckle. The 9 of them stopped.

"Alright, this is the spot. Ready, Starlight?" Twilight asked. Starlight nodded.

"Ooh! This is so exciting! I can't wait!" Pinkie exclaimed excitedly. The girls all chuckled, and the 9 of them stood in a circle.

"Alright, guys. Here we go." Starlight said with a nod.

As Starlight and Twilight charged up the spell, Fluttershy took Evan's hand gently in hers. Rainbow Dash, seeing this, glanced to Alex standing next to her, and did the same. Alex looked down at her, his expression revealing no change, but he held her hand.

The portal opened beneath their feet, and in they went…

They appeared out the other side in the map room of Twilight's castle, all in pony forms. Immediately, all eyes went to Alex and Evan as they began to inspect their earth pony bodies.

Evan looked much like himself already, with a light brown coat and dark brown curly thick hair that formed an afro. His tail was short and bushy, and his cutie mark showed a wavy piano keyboard.

Alex on the other hand had a darker blue coat with a longer black mane that divided like spikes, drooping around the back of his neck and slightly over his eyes. His tail was similarly long and wavy, with light brown eyes and two connected quarter notes for his cutie mark.

"Woah dude, this is weird already." Evan grunted a bit as he stretched his new limbs out.

"I have muscles in places I didn't have muscles before." Alex said, shuddering a bit. The girls simply chuckled, watching this all play out.

"How are you supposed to move around like this?" Evan asked.

"It's easy! Just one hoof in front of the other behind the other at the same time as the first one!" Pinkie Pie answered.

"Thanks, Pinkie…" Alex said with some sarcasm, moving a hood forward. "Hold on, shut up. I'mma figure this out."

"We didn't say anything." Fluttershy said with a small laugh.

As Alex slowly and uncertainly slid his hooves forward one at a time, he began to feel out a comfortable walking pattern, and began to trot forward. As he did so, Evan observed, and started to do the same. Before long, they had it figured out.

"Ay, look at me! I'm a walking pony! Check it out man, I'mma goooo left!" Alex said, changing directions and continuing onwards.

"Haha, good to see you adjusting so quickly." Twilight said with a smile.

"I guess once you get over the weirdness, it isn't actually all that different, just with four legs…?" Evan said. The girls nodded.

"Yeah, that's about right." Applejack agreed.

"It sure feels that way, doesn't it?" Starlight nodded.

"So, on with the tour of the world?" Alex asked with an excited smile.

"Sure." Twilight said with a smile.

"Ooh, can I show Evan my house?" Fluttershy asked quickly.

"Sure." Twilight nodded.

"Good, because I really need to check in on Angel Bunny and the others." Fluttershy said with a nod.

"And I just came to see ya'll here. I gotta get back to the farm." Applejack said.

"I _really_ should check in with the Wonderbolts too. I'll catch up with you later, okay?" Rainbow Dash said to Alex.

"Yeah."

"You can meet us at my boutique, darling." Rarity said to Rainbow Dash before she left.

"Ooh, I'mma go make some cupcakes for you when you're done going around!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, zooming off.

"I'll go with Fluttershy and Evan." Starlight volunteered.

"Guess that leaves just us three." Rarity said to Twilight and Alex.

"Let's get going then." Alex said with a nod.

"Wow, it's like a village town." Alex said as his eyes scanned all of Ponyville; its buildings and the ponies passing by.

"This is Ponyville, where we usually hang out at." Twilight said as an introduction to the area.

"It seems nice." Alex said with an approving nice.

"It is very nice, darling, and the ponies that live here are all wonderful. It's truly a nice place to be." Rarity said with a smile.

"They all look pretty cheerful," Alex observed with a comment. "So where to first?" He asked.

"I'd like to take you to my boutique, darling, and fix you up with a nice new mane cut. It's growing a little long." She said with a giggle, shuffling his mane a bit. He swept it with his hoof.

"Heheh, thanks for letting me know. I'll trust your judgment with that." Alex said with a laugh.

"So, this is your place?" Evan asked, staring up at Fluttershy's cottage. Fluttershy nodded.

"Mhmm. What do you think?"

"I see what you were sayin'. It's really out here in the woods, but it's nice. It's like a tree house." He said.

"Thank you. I can introduce you to Angel Bunny." Fluttershy said, opening the door for him and Starlight to enter.

They entered to find Discord hastily trying to keep all of the animals calm, and not succeeding at that. However, once all of the animals saw Fluttershy, they immediately began to rush towards her joyously, embracing her before Discord swept her up in his own hug.

"Thank goodness you're back, Fluttershy! I was taking care of all of the animals while you were gone. I had everything completely under control." Discord said proudly.

"Is that why everything is broken?" Starlight asked. Indeed, a lot of furniture and plates were broken on the floor, swept to the side but not disposed of.

"Oh dear. I'm sorry, Evan, it seems the animals grew restless because I was gone too long." Fluttershy apologized. Evan didn't respond though, for his eyes were stuck on Discord.

"We'll help you clean up." Starlight offered.

"Yes. We'll _all_ help, won't we?" Fluttershy asked, directing her attention to the animals. They all nodded.

As they all began to set to cleaning, Evan inched closer to Fluttershy, staying close to her side while still wearily eyeing Discord. As they made their way to another corner, finally Evan asked about him in a low voice.

"Hey, Fluttershy?"

"Hmm? Yes?"

"Wh-what is that?" He asked.

"What is what, Evan?"

"That dragon-y thing."

"Oh, Discord? He's a draconneques." Fluttershy answered.

"He looks freaky dude."

"Oh, don't say that," Fluttershy said, her brow furrowing a bit. "He's very nice. He's one of my best friends."

"Okay…well, I'mma just stay close to you."

"Okay… I don't mind." Fluttershy said softly, with a reassuring smile.

Rainbow Dash quickly landed at Rarity's boutique after getting an earful from Spitfire about what she missed and how hard she's gonna have to work to bounce back from her time gone. She didn't mind it too much; she just wanted to get back.

She entered the boutique, but didn't see Alex and the others immediately, like she expected to. At first she figured they had left, and was about to go out, but then she caught ear of Rarity talking towards the back.

"You know, darling, you have a lovely mane for a stallion! It's quite soft and smooth, it flows very well. You know, with proper care and attention, I can make it even more fabulous than I already am!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Heheh…okay?"

Rainbow Dash made her way to the back, where she found Rarity washing Alex's hair and brushing it while Twilight looked on. She fell in step next to Twilight, watching with a strange expression on her face.

"What are you doing?" She asked Rarity.

"Hmm? Oh, Rainbow Dash, you're back! Alex's mane here was a little unmanaged, so I offered to fix it up for him. I'm almost done, as a matter of fact."

"Are you really? We've already gone through about half a dozen wash-throughs. Surely this can't be the last one." Alex said sarcastically.

"Oh, hush. That was simply to get all of the stray hair out. Now, I can style it. I already know exactly what I'm going to do with it." Rarity said.

"Alright." Alex said as he brought his head up.

"He just got here, and you're already trying to style him." Rainbow Dash said as Alex lifted his head and Rarity began to dry it some with a towel.

"Well, it's the least I can do, after all. Besides, he wishes to be presentable, as he should." Rarity replied, beginning to style his mane with a brush as well as some product.

"He looked fine to me before." Rainbow Dash said, feeling awkward immediately after saying it.

"Well, what's the harm in improvement then?" Rarity said, glancing at her with a subtle wink.

"What exactly are you planning on doing with this?" Alex asked, curiously watching her in the mirror trying to figure out what Rarity was going for. It appeared to him as if she were simply brushing his mane upwards with a slight tilt.

"You'll see, dear. You'll love it when you see it." Rarity assured him.

"If anypony knows how to fix up a mane, it's Rarity." Twilight said with a chuckle.

Indeed, Alex began to see it taking shape as she began to part the mane into spiked sections, creating a cartoonish hair style. Alex began to smile in approval, nodding when she had finally finished.

"You're right, I see it, and I love it." Alex said.

"Wonderful!"

"Thanks, Rarity."

"You're very welcome, dear."

"What do you think?" Alex asked, turning towards Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash began to blush slightly, but it wasn't enough to be noticeable.

"It looks good." She said, seeing that this whole crush thing was going to be a lot harder to deal with than she thought…


	28. Making Plans

"Soooo, what did you two think about Ponyville?" Pinkie Pie asked them excitedly, sliding Alex and Evan cupcakes as she sat down with them, as well as Rainbow Dash, Starlight, Twilight, and Fluttershy.

"Heheh, it seems cool. It has that small town sorta vibe, like everyone knows everyone and everyone more or less gets along with each other." Evan described.

"That's exactly what it's like!" Pinkie said.

"It seems friendly enough. I mean, I haven't talked to anyone yet, but from what you've been saying, it sure seems pleasant." Alex said, glancing at the girls around the table.

"Did I hear you say 'yet'?" Rainbow Dash said, leaning towards him with a smile. Alex chuckled.

"Haha, yeah. I mean, now that I know that Equestria is a real place, I wanna have a look around. I mean, this is my first time in a new world and all." Alex said.

"We'd be happy to show you all that Equestria has to offer." Twilight said with a smile.

"What about you, Evan?" Fluttershy asked, looking up at him.

"Uh, yeah, I'll definitely be coming back. Just, you know, every once in awhile. I don't have as free a schedule as this guy here." Evan said, nudging Alex.

"Heheh, yeah. Since I got more free time, I'll be spending a lot of it here just learning about this place. Maybe find myself a nice female pony girlfriend, right?" Alex said jokingly, nudging Evan back.

"Heheh, sure man. You go right on ahead." Evan said with a roll of his eyes. Alex was about to say something to him, but instead, leaned forward.

"Fluttershy, Evan thinks I'm weird for getting a female pony girlfriend." Alex said with a wide, mischievous chuckle.

"How silly." Fluttershy responded with a giggle. Evan leaned back.

"Wowww." He said. All the girls giggled.

"You two are ridiculous." Twilight said with a shake of her head.

"Try the cupcakes now!" Pinkie butted in, her anxiety growing past the ability to wait for them to get to the treats on their own.

"Oh yeah, the pony famous cupcakes de la Pinkie Pie," Alex said, picking his vanilla cupcake up. It had glossy baby blue frosting. "It looks good."

Alex took a bite of his from the side, licking up some frosting in the process. Very quickly, his expression melted into approval and ecstasy. Seeing this, Evan tried his, and his cupcake wrought a similar reaction.

"Jesus Christ, this is _really_ good." Evan said.

"Oh my gahf…thif if thooo good, Pinkie!" Alex said through his chewing.

"Thank you! Compliments while you're still chewing the first bite means it was really REALLY good!" Pinkie grinned proudly.

"Yeah man, this is probably the best cupcake I've ever had." Evan said.

"Same!" Alex agreed after swallowing.

"Another success!" Pinkie Pie grinned. They laughed at this.

"I gotta say, if you told me last month that any of this was gonna happen, that I would find myself in a place like this, I would've thought you were crazy." Alex said with a chuckle.

"You did think we were crazy, remember?" Rainbow Dash teased him.

"Haha, yeah yeah. I stand officially corrected." Alex said with a smile.

"As long as you admit it." She said with a smile.

"Now there's so many things that we can show you! You'll love Equestria." Twilight said excitedly.

"We can take the train!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"Ooh! I call showing off Cloudsdale and the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash called.

"I'd love to show you Manehattan." Rarity said.

"I just had an idea! We can take a visit to the Crystal Empire!" Twilight exclaimed, her excitement suddenly growing even more.

"Not to mention we have all sorts of friends to introduce you too as well." Starlight brought up.

"Right!" Pinkie Pie agreed.

"Sounds like we'll be busy, well, mostly you, but me too." Evan said to Alex with a chuckle.

"Don't forget, Rarity, we also have to gather the Pony Tones." Fluttershy reminded her. Rarity gasped a bit.

"Yes, indeed!"

"Oh, are you thinking about getting the group back together, Rarity? I'm sure everypony would love that." Twilight commented.

"Exactly. You know, Alex has a voice on him too; perhaps you would be interested in joining?" Rarity offered to Alex.

"Huh?! I thought you just wanted me to hear you guys all perform." Alex admitted.

"No, darling, we'd like you to consider joining us! What do you say?" She offered.

"Umm… I don't know… We'll just see the rehearsal first and take it from there." Alex said unsurely.

"Alright. Perhaps the others should hear you first too, and then we can make a decision." Rarity decided.

"I…"

"Dude, you totally should join! It'd be great!" Evan encouraged him.

"Uuugh I'll think about it. I promise." Alex said.

"I hope you do, darling. It'd be a great time." Rarity promised.

"You can sing, Alex?" Twilight asked.

"He sang a little bit in the car when he was driving us around." Rainbow Dash recounted.

"Ooh! I wanna hear!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"Uuugh now you've done it, Rarity." Alex laughed.

"So, you're the new guy, huh?" The little dragon asked Alex as he lead him up the stairs of Twilight's castle; the Tree of Harmony.

"Yep. I'm Alex."

"Alex, huh? That's a cool name, really different. I guess since you're from another world and everything." Spike said.

"Heheh, yeah, we don't have any 'Twilight Sparkle's or 'Rainbow Dash'es where I'm from." Alex answered with a chuckle.

"Right, heh. Well, as it turns out, we've got a LOT of guest rooms in the castle, so you're welcome to hang out here long as you want. Starlight's across the hall if you need anything, Twilight's a little further down." Spike directed.

"Cool. Thanks again man." He nodded, entering his room.

"See you around." Spike waved him off, leaving him alone.

Alex looked around at the large single bedroom, admiring the crystal walls and tall ceiling that made him feel strangely small inside the room. It gave the bedroom a sort of vastness to it, which he liked. He went ahead and set his phone down on the counter, and began to unfurl his bedsheets.

"Oh! I didn't know you were gonna be staying here, Alex." Starlight said, stepping into his door frame. Alex turned to see her, and nodded.

"Yeah. Twilight offered when I said I wasn't gonna be doing anything tomorrow and wanted to see more around Ponyville and probably Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash _really_ wants me to see her hometown." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Oh, I'm sure. Sounds like tomorrow's gonna be quite a day for you. Is Evan staying here too?" Starlight asked curiously.

"Nah, he went back. His folks probably would've gotten worried if he'd not come home without giving any notice. Besides, I think he's still a little weirded out by this world. I am too, to be honest," Alex chuckled. "But my curiosity is more pressing right now." Alex admitted.

"I understand," Starlight chuckled, stepping into his room fully. "This whole situation has been strange, really. But we're glad you were there to help our friends out. This whole thing is kind of our way of saying thanks, in a way."

"And I appreciate that. As all this stuff goes on though, you don't have to worry about thanks though. I'm starting to see you guys as just my friends, you know?"

"Yeah. Of course." Starlight nodded and smiled.

"Hey, Alex. How do you like your room?" Twilight asked, entering as well.

"Oh, it's great. Thanks, Twilight." Alex said.

"You're welcome. So tomorrow, we'll take you to Cloudsdale. Rainbow Dash wants to take you to a Wonderbolts practice while you're there." Twilight said.

"Alright. I'll just follow her lead then." Alex nodded.

"You ever flown before?" Twilight asked curiously.

"In airplanes, yeah. Why?"

"Well, you'll be getting a pair of wings tomorrow to help you get to Cloudsdale." Twilight said with a smile.

"You mean I get to fly?" Alex asked excitedly.

"Yep!"

"Awesome! I can't wait!" Alex said with a clap.

"Haha, it'll be fun. We'll see you in the morning for breakfast." Twilight said.

"Alright, goodnight, Twilight." Alex waved her off.

"Goodnight, Alex. Goodnight, Starlight." Twilight said to them before leaving the room.

"Night, Twilight." Starlight said to her.

"Man, I've always wanted to fly. This is gonna be cool." Alex said with a giggle.

"It will be. Hope you have fun tomorrow." Starlight said.

"Thanks. See you later." Alex nodded.

"Night," Starlight said, turning to leave. She paused in the doorway, and turned back towards him. "Hey, Alex?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"When you found Rainbow Dash and the others in your apartment, what went through your mind?"

"Umm… 'What the hell are these girls doing in my place?'?" Alex said strangely, chuckling afterwards.

"Right, yeah, ha. I guess what I'm wondering is what made you decide to let them stay?" Starlight redirected her question.

"Ah… I guess when I saw their faces after I initially turned them away, it got me thinking about how I would feel if it were me in a situation like theirs, and I got so desperate that I had to do what they did just to survive…

"I've learned that life is too short for regrets. It really sucks looking back at things you could've done to prevent something, and I've had my fair share of those times. So I figured if they really needed help, I wouldn't have been able to stop thinking about what I _could have done_ if I were to do nothing." Alex explained his thought process.

"I see… Well, we're glad you did. Goodnight." Starlight said with a smile before exiting his room.

"Goodnight." Alex said, waving her off before closing his bedroom door.


	29. Cloudsdale

_Alex wandered around a long hallway, a strange combination of a school hallway and a factory setting. Lockers lined the walls, but the fixtures and pipe lines were exposed on the ceiling. He stepped into a room, and found himself in a changing room._

_There were the girls he called friends: Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Twilight, Starlight, and Applejack. They were strangely wandering around in human form, not really paying him much mind. He sat down on a bench, silent as they wandered around him._

_He heard a strange noise to his right. He looked, and saw a strange set of double doors glowing a deep blue. Alex eyed it strangely, standing up. The doors stood in the middle of the room, not connected to any wall. They were clearly out of place in the room._

_Alex slowly began to approach the doors, unsure what to do. He slowly reached out for it, but then hesitated. He wasn't sure that he should. After some deliberation in his head, he made a fist, and held up his hand to knock on the doors…_

Alex woke up to a sudden knocking on his door. He flinched in bed, his head immediately rising a little bit. He felt a numbness in the back of his neck as he sat up the rest of the way, and called out to let whoever was on the other side know that he was awake.

"Yeah?"

"Alex? Are you still sleeping?" Twilight called through the door.

"I was. Is it time to go?" He asked.

"Rainbow Dash is waiting on us." Twilight informed him.

"Ohh," Alex sighed, brushing his mane out of his eyes. "Tell her I'll be ready in a bit. Hey, can you grab me a brush?"

"About time you show up, dude. You're worse than me." Rainbow Dash teased him as Twilight and Alex came down to meet her on the ground floor.

"Heheh, sorry, I was out of it, I guess." Alex apologized.

"Nah, you're fine."

"Here's an orange. You should eat something before we start flying." Twilight said, handing Alex an orange to eat. He took it.

"Ooh, yummy." He said. Twilight went ahead and peeled it for him, and Alex began to dig in.

"Did you sleep okay?" Twilight asked.

"Mhmm." Alex nodded.

"Oh man, I'm so excited. This is gonna be great! Wait until you see the Wonderbolts!" Rainbow Dash said, immediately bringing up what she saw as being the highlight of the tour.

"Who are the Wonderbolts exactly?" Alex asked curiously.

"Oh, we're a group of elite flyers, the best of the best of the best!"

"I assume you're one of them?" Alex observed with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah! You bet!" Rainbow Dash answered proudly.

"Rainbow Dash's goal in life was always to be a Wonderbolt. It took a long time to get there, but she's really great for the team." Twilight went into more detail.

"Wow. That's pretty awesome, Rainbow Dash."

"Haha, thank you! It is pretty great. Normally, we just have family over for practices, but I mean, you just gotta see us fly! I can even introduce you to some of them." Rainbow Dash said. Her tone made it apparent to Alex that this was a big deal.

"Cool. Can't wait." Alex said with a grin, finishing his orange.

"C'mon, Twilight, let's go now! We're burning daylight here!" Rainbow Dash urged her, her anxiety and excitement beginning to build.

"Hahah, alright. Let me just give Alex his wings." Twilight said. She turned to Alex, paused for a moment, then hit him with a spell. He suddenly began to float for a moment, and then landed back on all four hooves with a new set of wings protruding from his back.

"Oooh, that feels weird." Alex said with a shiver. He opened up his wings all at once, and his back popped loudly. All three of them cringed.

"That's definitely not normal." Twilight said.

"I'm alright. That's starting to feel good actually, I just need to stretch out more." Alex said, beginning to get a feel for his wings and how to move them.

"You ever watch a bird fly?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yeah, that's what I'm trying to get a feel for. Just give me a second." Alex said, clearing his throat before opening his wings up all the way.

Alex began to beat his wings sloppily. He stopped, and started again. Then again. As he felt the way his wings created an air pocket, he began to find his form, and he began to rise up, steadily flying above the ground.

"Alright. I'm gettin' the hang of it." Alex said with a laugh.

"Nice! That wasn't the slowest I've ever seen somepony learn to fly." Rainbow Dash complimented him, nudging Twilight teasingly.

"Haha, that was a long time ago." Twilight rolled her eyes.

"C'mon. Now let's go." Rainbow Dash exclaimed, flying up and grabbing Alex by the hoof, pulling him outside. She quickly pulled him up higher into the air.

"Woah!" Alex awkwardly wobbled a bit against the force of the wind, but started to find his bearings.

"Just wait, this is gonna be great!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, smiling to herself. It was somewhat embarrassing to think about, but the fact that she'd found an excuse to hold his hoof was satisfying to her…

True to her word, Rainbow Dash showed Alex a good time in Cloudsdale. The three of them went around to some hangout spots in the city, ate at one of her favorite little food stands, and now, they were at the training academy for Wonderbolts practice. It was just Alex and Twilight now waiting for Rainbow Dash to suit up and get to flying.

"This kinda looks like an airstrip." Alex observed.

"It kind of serves the same purpose." Twilight said with a shrug.

"Ever been in an airplane?" Alex asked.

"Oh no, it looks terrifying. I don't know how you humans fly in those things." Twilight quickly shook her head, terrified at the thought of it.

"I've been flying in airplanes all my life. It's nothing, really. You'd be fine. It's kind of like a long ride really." Alex said.

"Ehhh I think I'll pass." Twilight chuckled.

Finally Rainbow Dash came out with the Wonderbolts crew. They took off, flying in formation in all sorts of complex turns and circles. Watching it, Alex was reminded of airplane shows that he'd seen before. As he watched, impressed, he found himself putting different songs to what he was witnessing, as if it were an actual show. Afterwards, Rainbow Dash swooped down to where they were sitting, still in uniform.

"So, what did you think?!" She asked Alex immediately. Alex chuckled.

"That was impressive. That did not look easy, and yet you made it look really easy." Alex said, his eyes drifting downwards. He was observing her figure in the uniform; she was clearly very fit.

"Haha, thanks!"

"That must take a lot of working out and refinement." Alex said thoughtfully.

"Like you wouldn't believe. But that's what we're all about! C'mon, I told them I'd introduce you to them." Rainbow Dash said, pulling him up again. They walked towards the other Wonderbolts.

"You fly pretty fast, Rainbow Dash. I forgot to say earlier when you were pulling me." Alex said with a laugh.

"Haha, sorry. I'm the fastest flyer in Equestria! Sometimes it's hard for other ponies to keep up." Rainbow Dash said.

They reached the other Wonderbolts, who were all scattered and talking. Rainbow Dash isolated one and brought him over.

"Alex, this is Soarin'."

"Heyyy. Nice to meet you." Alex said, offering a hoof out. Soarin' shook it.

"Nice to meet you too. Rainbow Dash said we'd have a new face in the stands today. Said this is your first time seeing the Wonderbolts fly?"

"First time ever." Alex answered with a nod.

"Nice. Well, you should come see one of our shows sometime. If you thought this was impressive, you should see us then." Soarin' said with a chuckle.

"I'm sure Rainbow Dash will hook me up." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Oh, I'm sure. Well, I'mma go. Nice meeting you," Soarin' said to him, then spoke to Rainbow Dash aside as he left them. "Your boyfriend seems cool." He complimented before continuing on his way.

"Um, hey, he's not my… Ugh, nevermind. Oh, look, there's Spitfire! She's head of the Wonderbolts! You definitely gotta meet her." Rainbow Dash said, pulling him her way now.

"Heheh, sure." Alex chuckled. They stopped at Spitfire, who turned towards them.

"Well, hello there. You must be Rainbow Dash's guest." Spitfire said with a chuckle.

"Yep, that's me. The name's Alex. Nice to meet you, Spitfire." Alex said, shaking hooves with her. She smiled.

"Nice to meet you too. Did you enjoy the practice?" She asked.

"I did, thank you. I was colored impressed." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Heheh, great. We'll be seeing you at our official showcase then, right?" Spitfire asked.

"I can try and make it." Alex agreed with a nod.

"Alright then. I'll see you later." Spitfire said, nodding to them before heading back.

"Your flight friends seem cool." Alex said with a chuckle.

"They are cool. I'mma go back and get changed out of my uniform. I'll be back." Rainbow Dash said.

"Okay, sure thing." Alex said.


	30. By The Lake

Alex heard a knock on his door as he was about to step out. He stretched his arms out a bit, and opened up his door. Rainbow Dash was on the other side.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash. What's up? I thought Twilight wasn't coming for another hour." He said, letting her into his apartment. He looked around for someone else, but was surprised to find that she was alone.

"Yeah, but I figured I'd stop by early, see if you were up. You going on a walk?" She asked.

"I am. Wanna come?"

"Sure! Where're we headed?"

"I was gonna head to a park about 15 minutes away. It's a lot nicer there."

"Let's go." Rainbow Dash said, following him into the car. They buckled up and were quickly on their way.

"How're you doing this morning?" Alex asked.

"I'm good. Feeling a little energetic, I guess."

"Haha, I can tell."

"How are you doing?" She asked him.

"Pretty good. I just wanted to get some fresh Earth air before I trade my hands out for hooves again." Alex said with a chuckled.

"Hahaha, right. Did you enjoy your first days in Equestria though?" She asked hopefully.

"I did. It was fun; you've showed me some very cool places. I look forward to spending more time there." Alex said with a smile.

"Awesome. There's plenty more places to go see." Rainbow Dash said with a grin.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure." Alex said with a chuckle.

Rainbow Dash smiled a bit, sitting back and falling silent. Alex put on some music for the drive, casually humming and singing along a bit quietly as they drove. Rainbow Dash just closed her eyes and listened as they went on their way.

"You're not falling asleep on me, are you?" Alex asked with a chuckle.

"No." Rainbow Dash answered with a scoff.

"Good, 'cause we're here now." Alex said as he pulled into the park area.

They stepped out into a sandy parking lot with lots of trees and wooden tables around. There was no apparent trail nearby from where the car was parked. Rainbow Dash looked around curiously.

"Where are we going?"

"It's just over the hill." Alex gestured her to follow, walking the same direction the car was facing. Rainbow Dash fell in step next to him, and very quickly the trail came into view.

It was a paved sidewalk trail that led around a large lake. The morning sun reflected light off the surface of the water. In the center of the lake stood an island of trees. The trail itself circled around the lake, crossing over a wooden bridge before continuing into the forest.

"Wow, this is…really nice." Rainbow Dash admired the location. Alex nodded in agreement.

"It is. We'll head this way." Alex said, gesturing towards the bridge. She nodded, and all they went.

As they walked, Rainbow Dash could see other people jogging and riding bicycles up and down the trail. Out on the water, she could see one singular boat with a man and a woman inside; they were pedaling it across the water. She turned away from it.

"So…how're you doing?" Rainbow Dash asked slowly and awkwardly, unsure what to say.

"Heheh, fine. How are you?" Alex asked.

"I'm good, you know…? Walking." Rainbow Dash answered with a chuckle.

"Right?" Alex chuckled. "What brings you by? You seem like you want to say something." Alex observed.

"Heheh, is it obvious?" Rainbow Dash asked, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

"What's up?" Alex asked.

"Um…well… I'm not really sure how to talk about it."

"It's alright, you don't have to. Take your time." Alex said with a reassuring nod.

"Okay… So I was giving a lot of thought, like, a lot of thought to when you first took us in." Rainbow Dash began.

"Mhmm?"

"Yeahhh. When we were all there staying in your apartment, at first I kinda thought that you were annoying and weird." She admitted.

"Understandable, some people get that vibe from me." Alex nodded.

"Yeah, but you're actually…pretty cool, and I like you." Rainbow Dash finally said.

"Aww, thanks. I like you too." Alex said with a smile.

"Uh… I mean, I like you as in…like like you…?" Rainbow Dash tried. Alex seemed to get the point this time, inhaling sharply.

"Oh…" Alex trailed off. Now it was sinking in what Rainbow Dash was really telling him. Her nervousness had built to an all-time high now as she waited for his response.

"I…uh, don't know what to say." Alex admitted slowly.

"I don't know either, heheh… I've never really liked anypony else before, so I don't really know what happens now… Do you like me too…?" Rainbow Dash asked, hoping her question would finally bring out an answer.

The question brought out feelings in Alex that she wasn't able to read; all she could see was that he looked confused and conflicted, unsure what to say. That just made her worry more. Had she made a mistake?

"I…don't think we should date." Alex finally said.

"Oh," Rainbow's heart sank. "I get it…" She nodded slowly.

"It really isn't anything to do with you," Alex tried to save it. "It's just…you know, it's me." Alex trailed off, realizing that nothing he could say would likely help the situation.

"Maybe we should just head back…" Rainbow Dash suggested. Alex nodded quietly.

"Alright, if that's what you want… Twilight should be here soon anyway." Alex pointed out, looking at the time.

The rest of the walk back was extremely tense, uncomfortable, and silent. Rainbow Dash kept sneaking glances at Alex to see what he was thinking, but he just looked upset, almost as upset as she probably looked. The whole thing was a very discouraging experience.

The drive home was pretty much the same. She spent the trip back slumped against the seat with her arms folded. Alex drove silently as well, occasionally looking over as if he was going to say something, but then deciding against it and looking back at the road.

Finally they pulled up to the apartment, and Alex parked the car. Neither of them got out right away, but just waited to see if the other would speak. Finally, Alex did speak.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"Just forget about it." Rainbow Dash said quickly.

"Okay… I'd just disappoint you anyways." Alex remarked strangely.

"Please, just don't." Rainbow Dash said, getting out of the car finally. Alex sighed, and followed after her…


	31. Ice Cream

"Wow, so this is Manehattan, huh?" Alex looked around in astonishment. Rarity smiled and nodded.

"Yes, it's quite extravagant, isn't it?" Rarity asked.

"It looks a lot like New York. Actually, it sounds a lot like New York too." Alex said with an ironic chuckle.

"Is that a city on your planet?" Twilight asked curiously.

"It is."

"Isn't it funny how there are things in Equestria that serve as counterparts to places and things on Earth?" Rarity observed curiously.

"Maybe Earth and Equestria are alternate dimensions instead of different planets." Twilight said with a giggle.

"Do you have alternate dimensions?" Alex asked.

"We do, actually." Twilight nodded.

"What? You serious? You're not just messing with me, right?" Alex asked again.

"No, we do have alternate dimensions." Twilight repeated her affirmative.

"No way!" Alex said, his pitch rising.

"Haha, we'll put it on the list." Twilight said.

The three of them approached Rarity's shop. She opened it up and they entered. Alex looked around curiously, noticing all the differences and similarities between the Ponyville branch and the Manehattan branch. He nodded with approval.

"I kinda like the look of this one." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Thank you, it certainly has more of a city feel for these city folk, heheh. Come come, let me introduce you to my manager! Where is she?" Rarity wondered aloud, looking around. She left Twilight and Alex alone for the moment.

"Does she always get this excited?" Alex asked with a chuckle.

"When it comes to showing off her fashion? Always." Twilight answered with a smile.

"Nice. It's nice to have that kind of passion."

"Rarity tells me you have an eye for fashion as well. She mentioned touring your closet at one point?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Oh, it sounds so awkward when you say it like that. I just showed her some of my stuff." Alex said with a chuckle.

"I understand. Well, a fashion compliment from Rarity is a pretty big deal, so whatever you showed her, you might wanna hold on to that." Twilight advised.

"Ooh, gotcha. You know, I was kind of wondering, how is there a fashion industry here when most of the time we don't even really wear clothes?" Alex asked.

"Ok! Alex, this is my manager, Sassy Saddles. Sassy Saddles, this is our good friend Alex. It's his first time visiting Manehattan." She introduced the two. They shook hooves.

"Hey there, Sassy. Nice to meet ya." Alex said with a chuckle, finding her name amusing.

"Nice to meet you too. I hear from Rarity that you have terrific taste for clothing." She said with a chuckle.

"I mean, I do alright, not as well as you guys. It looks like you run a tight ship around here." Alex observed the orderliness of the store.

"I do my best." Sassy said modestly. Alex nodded in approval.

"Mind if I take a look around? What can you interest me in?" Alex joked. Sassy chuckled.

"Come this way. We got a larger section for stallions here." She said, leading him off. Twilight and Rarity joined together now.

"It's not every day you find somepony to share a passion for fashion with." Rarity said.

"Mhmm. Hey, wasn't Rainbow Dash supposed to come with us?" Twilight asked curiously. Rarity nodded, her expression growing more solemn.

"She was, however, I'm afraid she's been wishing to distance herself from Alex lately." Rarity said.

"Really? What happened? Did they get into a fight?"

"No. You see, darling, Rainbow Dash…well, feels a certain sort of way for Alex here that he apparently doesn't reciprocate, or, at the very least, he rejected her…" Rarity said, looking for a word to finish her sentence but then realizing that summarized the situation well enough.

"Really? How do you know about that?" Twilight asked.

"Well, because she told me, dear. She was very upset. I told her she could take a rain check on our trip today. I hope to try and talk to _him_ today, see if I can find any reason behind it." Rarity said.

"Are you sure that's a good idea…?" Twilight asked.

"Talking about what's wrong is never a bad idea, Twilight. Besides, that's what friends are there for. You know that." Rarity said with a smile.

"Alright," Twilight nodded. "I'll let you handle that then. I don't really know anything about romance." Twilight said.

"I'm no expert either," Rarity giggled before changing the subject. "Oh, and don't tell Alex, but I'm preparing something for him; a small token of thanks, if you will." She said excitedly.

"Really, what are you making? Something fashion related, I assume?" Twilight presumed with a chuckle.

"Yes! I actually have something very specific in mind, and if my measurements are right, he'll be able to wear it whether he's here or on his world."

"That sounds really nice!" Twilight said.

"What sounds really nice?" Sassy Saddles asked as she and Alex came back. Alex had on a green scarf wrapped around his neck so its ends weren't visible, and it didn't really drape down.

"Oh, umm… We were thinking about…getting some ice cream! Would you like to come?" Twilight was able to come up with something.

"I'd like to, but I do have a lot of work to attend to in the back room. Perhaps next time?" Sassy Saddles asked. The girls nodded.

"Sure." Twilight agreed.

"Green really suits you, Alex. You should keep that." Rarity advised, now seeing that green was a color that matched Alex's color scheme as a pony.

"Would you like me to ring that up?" Sassy Saddles asked.

"Nonsense, it's on the house, as they say." Rarity giggled and grinned.

"Hey, thanks Rarity. In that case, I think I will keep it." Alex decided.

"Thank you very much, Sassy, for showing Alex around. I'll be around again next week. In the meantime, don't overwork yourself."

"I'll try not to." Sassy Saddles replied with a chuckle.

"So, how about that ice cream?" Alex asked.

"Haha, let's go get some." Twilight giggled.

"So, Alex, I had something I wanted to ask you about." Rarity brought up to Alex.

"What's up?"

"Oh, look at the time, I, uh…gotta use the little filly's room, hehehhhh…" Twilight quickly excused herself. Alex raised an eyebrow at this, but turned her attention back to Rarity.

"What's that about?" He asked her.

"Because she knows what I wish to ask you, darling." Rarity said with a sigh.

"Ah…" Alex nodded, already knowing what she was gonna say.

"Yes… Rainbow Dash didn't want me to bring it up so soon, but I'm just concerned. What's the matter?" Rarity asked.

"You're concerned…?" Alex asked in surprise. This clearly wasn't what he expected her to say.

"Of course. She said you seemed troubled, and while I think you and Rainbow Dash would work well together, if there's something bothering you so much that you feel it best to not, you can at least tell me, your friend." Rarity said.

"I see…" Alex said, leaning back a bit, looking strangely suspicious but also trusting. Rarity nodded.

"Alex?"

"Yeah, uh… I just wasn't sure if I was ready to jump into a relationship again." Alex admitted slowly and awkwardly.

"Why's that?"

"Well, you see… I've been cheated on three times. Pretty much all of my relationships have ended that way, so I just…stopped. I determined to just keep to myself rather than go through that again." Alex explained slowly, often pausing to find the right words, but finally he got it all out.

"Alex…why didn't you just say that to her?" Rarity asked, concerned but fully understanding his feelings.

"I don't know, I couldn't really get it out. Soon as I said no and saw her reaction, I knew she wasn't gonna hear anything else I said." Alex defended. Rarity nodded.

"Yes, Rainbow Dash tends to be that way from time to time. One thing though: do you like Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked straight out.

"I do. I care about her too, which is why I wish she hadn't asked, because I know it hurt her when I said no." Alex said, shaking his head.

"You do realize that this can only be resolved if you tell her everything you just told me." Rarity said.

"I know… I'll give some thought to how." Alex said, finally taking another bite of his ice cream.

"Okay." Rarity nodded, breathing a sigh of relief.

"…thanks, Rarity."

"You're welcome, darling."

"Yeah… I honestly thought you were just gonna confront me about it, maybe say something to make me feel bad." Alex admitted, his undertone suggesting what he expected to happen would not have been pleasant.

"Of course not, Alex. What happens between the two of you is your business alone, but you're my friend too. I wouldn't do that."

"Well, there's another first then." Alex said. Twilight came back.

"So…this ice cream, huh? Really great." She said awkwardly.

"We're all good, no worries, Twilight." Alex said.

"Okay good, because it was getting kind of boring just waiting around." Twilight said with an awkward chuckle…


	32. Try New Things

Alex waited nervously, alone and sitting at a park bench not far off from Ponyville. He fidgeted nervously; he had no idea how to say what he wanted to say. He knew what he wanted to say, but considering how things went the first time around, he didn't expect this time to be all that better.

Finally, after what felt like a silent eternity, Rainbow Dash came in for a landing. He managed a smile at her, and she responded with an awkward nod.

"Hey. Uh, you wanted to see me?" She asked.

"Yeah. Have a seat, please…" He invited her, tapping his hoof on the bench. She hesitantly eyed the empty seat, but joined him, sitting with some distance between them.

"What's up?"

"I…wanted to talk to you about…you know, what you told me before."

"You do?"

"Yeah…um, there was something I needed to say too."

"I guess."

"Just…it's really hard for me to talk about this so just bare with me…" Alex said, taking a sigh.

"Take your time." Rainbow Dash said, keeping her tone neutral. Alex nodded, finally mustering up his words.

"When you told me that I liked you, it was really complicated how I felt, because I… I do like you too."

"You do…?" Rainbow Dash asked, somewhat unsure whether to believe him or not.

"Yeah, I just… you remember Brianna, that girl we ran into at the movie theatre that I said we had that whole falling out thing?"

"I do."

"Well, my previous relationships have all pretty much ended more or less that way, at the very least I've been cheated on in all of them." Alex admitted.

"Really?" Rainbow Dash repeated, cringing a bit.

"Yeah… So, the reason I sort of diffused it is that I just don't want things to turn out like that again, not that I expect you to, I just… I don't know man. I just felt you should at least know why." Alex finally concluded.

"I understand, I understand now," Rainbow Dash said quietly. "I wouldn't do that to you though." She added.

"Maybe. You might feel that way now, but there's gotta be something wrong with me if it keeps happening." Alex said in a low tone.

"No, I don't think that's it." Rainbow Dash said quickly. Alex just scoffed and shook his head.

"I don't know."

"I think… I think I still want at least a chance." She said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'm not gonna cheat on you, that's for sure. I've never liked anypony else before."

"And you want me to trust that. Can I trust you to be loyal? To put up with me in moments where I'm low and questioning everything?" Alex asked outright.

"Yes." Rainbow Dash answered with no hesitation.

"Oh…" Alex stuttered, thrown off by how quickly and how confidently she answered him; he was sure that she would've at least hesitated, or said that she would simply try.

"Loyalty is kind of my thing, Alex. Ask anypony. I can handle them, I can handle you too."

"I… Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why me?"

"Well… I've never met anypony like you. We're a lot alike in a lot of ways, and…you're really cool. Plus, you did so much to help us when we needed it, so I know you fit right in with us." She explained.

"I see… That's fair. How long has this been on your mind?" Alex asked curiously.

"A little bit before Twilight and the others came, I told Fluttershy about it. It sort of just…happened, you know?"

"Yeah, I know how that is." Alex said with a small chuckle.

"And…what about me? Why do you like me?"

"Well you know, you're pretty cute. You're also pretty competitive and cool too, you're funny, just fun to be around." Alex explained. Rainbow Dash blushed at this.

"O-Okay."

"What?" Alex asked, catching this.

"Uh, well, I've never been called cute before." Rainbow Dash admitted, blushing with embarrassment.

"Seriously?" Alex asked. She shook her head.

"Never. I mean, other than my parents, but they don't exactly count." She said.

"Yeah, parents are supposed to say that." Alex said. They chuckled a bit at this. With the mood a little lighter now, they both had small smiles.

"So…can we try it?" Rainbow Dash asked. Alex paused for a bit, and then nodded.

"Sure. I think we can." He agreed.

"Okay." She said with a smile, scooting over to him and hugging him.

Alex flinched a little bit in surprise. He turned to look down at her, and saw the happiness on her face as she held him. He brought his arms around her as well, letting her rest against him, which tightened her grip. It was the closest he'd ever been with someone else in a long time.

"I've never dated a pony before, so I'm sure it will be more interesting at the very least." He said with a chuckle as they let go of each other.

"And I've never dater a human before, so right back at ya." Rainbow Dash giggled a bit.

"True. I'm not really like other humans though, so I might be a bad frame of reference when it comes to representing all of them, or even some of them, if we're being honest here." He said with a strange chuckle.

"Same. Because I'm way cooler than most ponies." Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"Same here with humans, except not really." Alex replied.

"Oh, come on, you're cool too."

"Ehhh." Alex made a high-pitched noise that represented his disagreeing with her.

"Well, you sing pretty well, for one. That's cool." She pointed out.

"I mean, I'm _alright._ " He said modestly.

" _Alright_ doesn't describe it, dude. Rarity and Fluttershy have been talking about inviting you to join the Pony Tones group. That's huge!" She brought up.

"Yeah I mean…true." Alex agreed.

"Mhmm. And when you go to their practice, they're gonna ask you again. You'll see." Rainbow Dash said with a slightly challenging tone.

"I guess we will. Maybe I'll even say yes if they do."

"You better." Rainbow Dash tapped him.


	33. Pony Tones

"I'm so excited for you to meet the other Pony Tones members! I think you're really going to like them!" Rarity exclaimed as she lead Alex and Evan towards her boutique.

"I can't wait for you two to hear us all sing again. It's been a long time." Fluttershy said, inching closer to Evan.

"Well, I know I can't wait to hear how you all sound. Alex said just you two sounded good, so I'm sure all of ya'll together will sound even better." Evan replied with a smile.

"Oh trust me man, they're gonna sound good." Alex said confidently.

The four of them entered into the boutique, where three more ponies, two stallions and one mare, were waiting for them. They all lifted their heads and looked over upon seeing them enter, and greeted them with smiles.

"Rarity, you finally decided to arrive at your own gathering." The mare said with a giggle.

"Fashionably late as always." The blue stallion added to her comment. Rarity laughed.

"Oh you two, it's good to see you again. And I'm never fashionably late, darlings, simply fashionable. Fluttershy and I just had to make a quick stop to pick up our two friends here. This is Evan, and this is Alex.

"Alex, Evan, meet Toe Tapper," She gestured to the blue stallion. "Torch Song," She pointed to the mare next. "And have you met Big MacIntosh yet?" She asked them.

"I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting any of them." Evan said.

"Nope." Alex answered as well.

"Oh okay, well this is Big Mac, Applejack's older brother." She introduced him formally.

"Nice to meet you. Can I call you Big M?" Evan asked.

"Everypony calls him Big Mac." Fluttershy said.

"Eeyup." Big Mac nodded.

"Oh alright. Like the burger. Big Mac it is then." Alex said, shaking hooves with him.

"New friends of yours, Rarity?" Toe Tapper asked.

"Yes, indeed. They've expressed interest in our musical ensemble, so I thought it'd be nice to show them our talents." Rarity explained.

"Haha, it's been awhile, but I think I still remember our arrangement for Find The Music In You." Torch Song said.

"Excellent, because that's _exactly_ what I planned on showing them." Rarity said with a grin.

"Well, let's not waste any time then." Toe Tapper said with a chuckle.

As the group began to gather and clear their throats, Alex and Evan took seats not far from them and began to converse while they waited for the Pony Tones to be ready.

"So, did you have that convo with Rainbow?" Evan asked quietly. Alex nodded.

"Yeah. It's official now, we're dating." Alex confirmed.

"Hey man, congrats. Kind of ironic too, kinda looking at her."

"I know what you mean," Alex chuckled. "The hair kind of threw me off a little, but turns out she's super cool and excited. It's kind of adorable."

"Great to hear, my man." Evan said, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Alright! We're ready." Rarity said in a sing-song tone. Alex and Evan redirected their attention back to the group.

"We're ready too. Lay it down on us." Evan clapped his hooves. The group nodded, and took a breath before beginning.

Big Mac led off the group, and one by one the members of the group built up off each other, and began to sing. Fluttershy and Rarity were the main leads, with the other members of the group accompanying them in the background and occasionally harmonizing as well.

Alex and Evan both nodded along to the song with smiles, listening to the pleasant and uplifting song. It wasn't exactly in line with either of their typical musical selections, but they both agreed that it sounded good.

Once they had finished, the two of them clapped for the group, and began to voice their opinions on how they sounded.

"Wow, you were right, it _does_ sound MUCH better with the whole group together!" Alex said approvingly.

"Thank you, dear! I knew you would enjoy it." Rarity said.

"Yeah, all of you mesh together well." Evan chimed in.

"Thank you, Evan." Toe Tapper said.

"Alex actually made a wonderful section on how to improve what we already have so far." Rarity brought up.

"Oh really? What do you have in mind?" Torch Song asked Alex.

"Uhh… What are you talking about, Rarity?"

"Don't you remember? The beatboxing thing?" Fluttershy reminded him.

"Oh. Oh yeah! That! Yeah, I was just saying you could add a beat to that." Alex said.

"Beatboxing?" Toe Tapper asked curiously.

"You don't have beatboxing here?" Evan asked in surprise.

"Perhaps you could showcase it for us? Alex could provide some vocals, and Evan could provide the beatboxing?" Rarity suggested with a grin.

"Uhh, sure. We could do that." Alex shrugged.

"Got a song?" Evan asked, turning to Alex. Alex hummed in thought.

"Do you know Let Me Love You?" He asked.

"The one by Ne-Yo?"

"No, the one by Mario." Alex clarified.

"Uhh, it's been a while. How does it go?" Evan asked.

"Okay, just do this…" Alex said before demonstrating the beat that he wanted him to do. After doing it for a bit, Evan began to pick up on it, and mimicked it. Meanwhile, the others watched and listened with interest.

Alex nodded along to the beat as Evan provided for it, signaling to keep going. After a bit, Alex began to hum, and then he began to sing:

" _Baby, I just don't get it. Do you enjoy being hurt? I know you smell the perfume, the makeup on his shirt. You don't believe his stories. You know that they're all lies. Bad as you are, you stick around and I just don't know why._

" _If I was with you, baby, you'd never worry 'bout what I'd do. I'd be coming home back to you every night, doing you right. You're the type of lady deserves good things. Pile up of diamonds, holding the rings. Baby, you're a star, I just wanna show you you are._

" _You should let me love you. Let me be the one to give you everything you want and need. Baby, good love and protection, make me your selection. Show you the way love's supposed to be. Baby, you should let me love you, love you, love you, lo-ove you. Yeah."_

The Pony Tones all applauded, showing varying levels of impressed.

"Wow, I didn't realize you were bringing on new members." Torch Song said.

"New members?" Alex repeated.

"Yes. We'd like the two of you to join our group. Between your vocals, Alex, and your beatboxing, Evan, you'd be wonderful additions to the group. We'd be delighted if you'd join us even for just one show. What do you say?" Rarity asked. Alex and Evan looked at each other.

"I'm down. How about you, bro?" Evan asked.

"Uhh…sure. I'll have to work on my singing a bit, but I can do it." Alex agreed.

"You already sounded great just then." Fluttershy reassured him.

"Mhmm, I see why you brought them along now, Rarity. I was wondering." Torch Song giggled.

"So, what other songs do you guys have?" Evan asked curiously.

"Just a couple." Fluttershy answered.

"Ohhh. Um, I can add some more to that lineup." Alex offered.

"Right! I forgot you're a connoisseur of music, Alex." Rarity said.

"Well, connoisseur is a fancy word for it, but I have a ton of music, let's put it that way. I can find some songs that would translate well into a cappella, and then next time we meet up I can show you what I have. Sound good?"

"Perfect." Torch Song nodded.

"We're all in agreement then? Wonderful! Oh, this is so exciting!" Rarity giggled.

"You were planning this the whole time, weren't you, Rarity?" Alex asked, already knowing the answer.

"Why, of course, darling. I wanted you in our group, and now we have two new members. I think my plan went better than expected." Rarity beamed proudly.

"Haha, of course." Alex chuckled.


	34. Dream Princess

It was a strange scene…

Alex sat on a metal bench, surrounded by the girls: Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Starlight, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Twilight. They were all in a locker room, the girls going about their business grabbing things from their respective lockers, not paying him any mind.

Alex for his part didn't look at them too much, considering some of them were changing. He said nothing, simply wringing his hands. It was awkward for him to be in his position, even if they seemed to not care at all.

Then the scene changed, and Alex found himself lying on his back, staring up at a plain white ceiling. He sat up a bit, and looked around. All of the girls were now lying on the floor wrapped up in sleeping bags. Rainbow Dash was to his nearest right, and the others were more scattered around.

All of them looked at rest, peaceful and quiet. He didn't want to disturb them, so he laid back again and closed his eyes, trying to fall asleep as well. However, a strange blue light began to bother his eyes, and he opened them again.

Suddenly, he felt his whole body tense up, and he suddenly couldn't move. He grunted weakly, trying to move his body and trying to call for help, but it was as if his voice had stopped working. A sheet was brought over his face, and all he could see was darkness…

Then, he heard another voice, a voice that he had never heard before. It was speaking to him soothingly, comforting him:

" _There there now. It's alright. You're okay now."_ She said to him.

As the voice spoke to him, he felt his body being lifted into the air. The sheet was removed from his face, and he felt his body begin to relax. Then he heard a gasp, and his body was set down again. He sat up, and found the source of the voice speaking to him…

It was a pony, much taller than any he had seen before. She was dark blue with pretty blue eyes. Her hair flowed and shined like the night sky. She wore a necklace with the symbol of a crescent moon on it, and a tiara atop her head. She had wings and a horn as well.

She was clearly very different from other ponies…

"Who are you?" Alex asked, standing up.

"What are you?" She asked in return. Alex raised an eyebrow and looked down at himself, realizing that he was human; of course she wouldn't recognize that.

"I'm a human. I don't recognize you." He said.

"My name is Princess Luna. And you are?" She asked.

"My name is Alex. It's nice to meet you, princess." Alex said politely. She nodded.

"Likewise, although under strange circumstances. I apologize for that."

"It's alright. So, I must be dreaming right now, right?" Alex asked. Luna nodded.

"Yes. I was summoned here because you were having a night terror of some sort." She explained.

"Oh, the sleep paralysis. I get that sometimes, usually when I'm under a lot of pressure or stress, or I just have a lot on my mind." He said.

"I see. This is…odd. I've never entered the dream world of a 'human' before. Where are you right now?" She asked.

"Umm…right now right now? Like, physically?"

"Yes."

"I'm in Twilight's castle." He answered.

"You're in Equestria?" Luna asked in shock. Alex nodded.

"Yeah. It's a long story. I do know Twilight and her friends though. I believe she might have mentioned you before. Your sister's name is Celestia, right? You live in Canterlot?" Alex tried to recall. She nodded.

"Yes. I see you're familiar with our land then. And what land are you from?" She asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm not from any land on this world. I'm from the planet Earth." Alex explained, seeing no reason to lie to a princess in his dreams.

"The planet…Earth," Luna repeated slowly. "I'd heard nothing of this. How did you get here? And how do you know Twilight and her friends?" Luna questioned him.

"It's a long story. Something about a portal? To be honest, I don't really know a whole lot about what happened before I met them, just that they brought me here to experience what their world is like, and so I visit every once in awhile." Alex explained further.

"I see. And how are you liking Equestria?"

"It's nice. Very pretty. All these ponies are ridiculously friendly, but that's a good thing. No mean streets around here." He commented with a chuckle. Luna smiled a bit.

"Well, that's good to hear. We Equestrians are very welcoming to all sorts of new faces. Although, I must say, given how different your…physical stature is in comparison to ours, I'm sure that must've taken some time."

"Actually, no, I look like a stallion just like you do. I don't know if that's Twilight's doing, it probably is now that I think about it, but I come out looking like a pony just like every other pony, with some musical notes on my butt." Alex said.

"Ah, I see. That makes a lot more sense then."

"Oh…it just occurred to me, are you real?" He asked, feeling like an idiot for asking such a weird question.

"Yes. I am real." Luna answered with a bit of a humorous chuckle.

"Ohh okay. Do you have, like, some special power that allows you to enter other people's dreams?" Alex asked a follow-up question.

"That's one way to summarize it, yes. My duty as a princess, one of them rather, is to ensure that all in Equestria get a good night's sleep, expelling nightmares and reassuring those who are being kept restless by their own anxieties and fears." Luna explained.

"Wow, that's a very psychological role. But I can appreciate that, it shows a lot of care and compassion." Alex said.

"Yes, that is the goal. Do you have that sort of thing where you're from?" Luna asked. Alex laughed.

"Haha, no! I can barely find someone to care when I'm awake, let alone 'expel nightmares' or 'reassure fears and anxieties'." He said, still chuckling. Luna, however, did not look amused.

"I see… So, where have you visited in Equestria thus far?" She asked curiously.

"Ponyville mostly, but I also went to Cloudsdale and Manehattan. There's very interesting settings here, and all sorts of colorful characters, literally." Alex answered with a chuckle.

"That's for certain." Luna nodded with a smile.

"Mhmm. So, since you basically have the night shift, I assume your sister does the day shift? What does she do?" Alex asked curiously.

"She raises the sun as I raise the moon, as you probably know. She handles the public events more often, outreach events and other things of the latter." Luna summarized simply, waving her hoof in a circle as she described her sister's roles.

"Oh okay. Cool," He nodded. "I guess it makes sense then why you two are in charge. Every time I hear either of your names it's followed by compliments and praise."

"Well, that's always the desired goal. Equestria is a friendly place for all creatures, ponies or otherwise. However, we've never had a visitor from somewhere as far off as you." Luna pointed out.

"I would imagine not. You don't gotta worry though, I just wanna see the sights is all; like a tourist." Alex said with a small nod.

"Of course. Well, it was nice meeting you, Alex. Take care in Equestria now."

"I will, princess, thank you. It was nice meeting you too." Alex said, giving her a small wave.

"Goodbye now."

"Bye." Alex waved.

A door appeared behind Luna; a door that Alex recognized as having seen before. She opened it and stepped out into what appeared to be a starry sky behind her. Luna nodded to him once more before closing the door, and it disappeared shortly thereafter.

And then he woke up…


	35. Out & About

"Hey, Spike, would you mind sending this letter to Princess Celestia when you have a chance?" Twilight asked, handing her letter to Spike.

"Sure, Twilight. I didn't know you were sending letters to the princess again. Did you learn something recently?" Spike joked. Twilight giggled and shook her head.

"Oh goodness, it's been forever since the last time I sent a letter like that. No, she asked if I could meet her at Canterlot castle, however, I won't be able to come for another few days. I have some things to take care of here at the Tree." Twilight explained.

"Oh okay. You sure you wanna put off meeting with Princess Celestia?" Spike asked, "That's not like you, Twilight."

"I don't have a choice, Spike. I have to be here to oversee the renovations being done." Twilight said.

"Ooh, renovations?"

Before Twilight could explain further, Alex came down the steps. Twilight flinched a bit in surprise.

"Alex? I didn't bring you over today. I was gonna come get you in an hour."

"Yeah, Starlight went ahead and got me since you were busy. I'm just gonna head out on a walk." Alex explained, pointing towards the door.

"Oh okay. By yourself?"

"All by my lonesome. I'll be back. Be good." Alex joked as he made his way out the door. Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled a bit.

"Alright, have fun. See you later." She waved him off.

Alex stepped out and looked towards Ponyville. Already he saw ponies going around, to and fro; morning was in full swing. With his headphones on, he began to walk through town, casually looking around at those whose paths he crossed.

As he continued on, an occasional head would turn to look at him curiously, considering he was a new, unfamiliar face. One mare waved at him from across the street, and he waved back with a smile. It caught him off guard a little bit how friendly these ponies could be sometimes.

To his left, Sugarcube Corner caught his eye. He remembered that as where Pinkie worked, and decided to pay her a visit. He paused his music as he entered into the quaint shop.

It was a slow morning, with only one customer already picking up cupcakes. There was Pinkie Pie behind the counter, waving the mare off with a delightful grin.

"Thank you, Cherilee! Bye bye now!" Pinkie waved.

"Bye, Pinkie Pie. Oop, excuse me." The mare named Cherilee said as she and Alex swerved around each other. Alex nodded, going up to Pinkie Pie.

"Hi, Alex! I didn't expect to see you so early. I thought Twilight was going to get you in an hour." Pinkie said. Alex hummed.

"Yeah, but Starlight brought me over early. I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd see how you're doing." He said.

"I'm great, thanks for asking! Can I get you something? Maybe a cupcaaake?" She offered, holding one up. Alex chuckled.

"Maybe later. I'm on a walk right now. I'll just take water, or something to give me some energy while I go around. Got anything like that?" Alex asked. Pinkie nodded quickly.

"I have just the thing for you. It's a drink of my own design, I patented it myself. I call it the Zowie Powie drink! Just give me 15 seconds!" Pinkie said before rushing back to make the drink. Alex waited idly for a bit.

"Done!" Pinkie exclaimed, suddenly behind him with the drink. Alex jumped in shock, almost climbing onto the counter.

"Sheesh, you scared me! How'd you do that?!"

"I told you, I had to make the drink. Sorry it took 16 seconds, I ran out of sugar and had to get some more, plus it has to sit for awhile and everything. Anyways, here's your drink, freshly mixed!" Pinkie giggled, handing him the drink.

"Thanks," Alex said. He quickly picked up on Pinkie eagerly waiting for him to taste it. He chuckled a bit, putting the straw in his mouth and sipping some of it. It was quite sweet, with a frothy texture to it. He hummed a bit.

"Not bad, Pinkie. I'll take it. Thanks!" Alex said.

"You're welcome! Be sure to come back for that cupcake!" Pinkie said, giving him a quick hug before he stepped out.

"I will for sure! Take care, don't work too hard!"

"I will! I mean, I won't! I might!" Pinkie called as he walked away. Alex chuckled before putting his headphones back on and continuing on his walk.

As he continued on, he found himself in the town square, the center of Ponyville. The town seemed busier than ever here as he found himself at the intersection of several streets. He decided to observe for a bit, and took a seat on a bench next to the town hall.

He sipped his drink as he watched ponies come and go. Some were just walking like him, others had saddlebags and groceries tucked in one arm, and others still were pulling along carts and carriages. He even caught sight of Big Mac, but he didn't notice him when he waved.

Then a mare came his way: she was white with blue hair and glasses. She had on headphones too, and was nodding her head along to the rhythm. She gestured to his bench, and he nodded. She sat down by him on the other side of the bench, sitting back casually.

The two glanced at each other curiously, then at each other's cutie marks, seeing that their marks were virtually the same. The mare tilted her head with interest, giving him a sideways smile. Seeing that they had a mutual interest in music, Alex directed his attention to her headphones, pointing to them.

She nodded, taking them off and holding them out to him. Alex took them and removed his own, passing them over to her. They made the swap and put them on. Alex for his part had been listening to Post Malone, while the mare was listening to dubstep.

Alex nodded in approval, and she did the same. She removed his headphones, and he removed hers as well. As he took them off, he saw an inscription inside of them: Vinyl Scratch.

"Your name's Vinyl?" Alex asked.

The mare nodded with a smile.

"That's cool. I'm Alex."

She nodded again, holding a hoof out to him. He shook it, and then handed her headphones back to her. They swapped back again, and put their respective headphones back on. Alex relaxed back as Vinyl got up, waving to him. He gave her a wave.

Then Alex noticed Applejack walking by, with a young girl in tow behind her. He got up, and made his way over to her, greeting her as he closed in on the two.

"Hey, Applejack!" He called to her. Both of their heads turned, and Applejack smiled.

"Heya, Alex! Good to see ya again. Whatcha doin' round here?" She asked.

"Oh you know, just out and about walking. How about you?"

"I'm out here to get Apple Bloom a new bow for an upcoming recital. Apple Bloom, this is my friend Alex. Alex, my little sis Apple Bloom." Applejack introduced the two.

"Nice to meet ya, mister! Are you new to Ponyville?" Apple Bloom asked curiously as they shook hooves.

"Relatively," Alex nodded. "This is my first time really going through it on my own."

"Cool! Where ya from? Your name sounds like somewhere really far off." Apple Bloom commented.

"Alex is from really far off, Apple Bloom. Don't be pryin' now." Applejack advised.

"Sorry. We're always excited to see some new faces!"

"I can tell," Alex chuckled. "Well, mind if I tag along with you two for a bit?" He asked. They nodded.

"Sure!" Applejack nodded. Alex fell in step with them as they continued to the store.

"So what brings ya here to Ponyville?" Apple Bloom continued her questions.

"Oh, just visiting. I've started coming by from time to time to hang out with Twilight and Rainbow Dash and the others."

"You know Princess Twilight and her friends too?! That's so cool! I'm sure you'll know everypony in Ponyville here pretty soon." Apple Bloom giggled. Alex chuckled a bit.

"I don't know, maybe. I've been meeting a few ponies already, so I guess I've already gotten started. I betcha you already know everypony, don't you?" Alex asked. Apple Bloom nodded.

"Eeyup! Me and my friends know everypony! New faces get noticed pretty quickly, and then they aren't new faces anymore."

"Nice." Alex chuckled.

They reached the fabric store at this point and stepped inside. The shop clerk welcomed them from the counter, and the search immediately began.

"You said you wanted a bow?" Alex asked.

"Yep! Something nice to go with my mane. Applejack says the old one is too raggedy." Apple Bloom complained a bit.

"It was torn." Applejack reminded her.

"Only in one spot!" Apple Bloom argued back.

"Haha, alright. What sort of thing are you going for?" Alex asked curiously as he began looking through strips of ribbon.

"I don't know, somethin' nice?" Apple Bloom shrugged.

"You got experience with bows?" Applejack asked with a chuckle. Alex scoffed a bit.

"Not really, but I'm sure there's something here that'll look spiffy." Alex said, glancing at Apple Bloom for a moment before going back to the ribbons.

"Spiffy." Apple Bloom repeated with a giggle.

"How do you feel about lace?" Alex asked, digging through ribbon.

"Lace?"

"Yeah, you know, frilly stuff." Alex rephrased. Apple Bloom shrugged.

"Eh, it's alright, I guess. My friend Sweetie Belle likes the frilly stuff more than me. Let me see." Apple Bloom curiously glanced over. Alex held out a green apple colored ribbon with a small web patter of lace hanging off of it.

"Cut to the right size and tied in a butterfly knot, this would look nice." Alex said.

"Hmm, let's try it." Apple Bloom nodded, taking the ribbon over to the counter. She had the shop clerk take it and tie it in her mane for her.

"You're not too bad with younger ones." Applejack said to him as they waited.

"I had a younger brother that was her age once. There's some similarities there." Alex explained with a chuckle.

"Ah, younger siblings." Applejack sighed. They both chuckled.

Apple Bloom came back with the bow tied in her hair exactly as Alex had said. She showed it to them, and they nodded in approval. She then went to the mirror and saw it for herself.

"Wow, this does look purty! I like it!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.

"Nice." Alex said with a chuckle.

"How'd you know this would work?" Apple Bloom asked her curiously.

"Oh, it's a rule of colors. The design was an added bonus. Hmm… Rarity would probably say it this way, 'It's fashion 101, darling, opposite colors attract, and the lovely light green pops in contrast to your red mane!'" He said, doing his best impression of Rarity's manner of speaking and use of gestures.

"Heheheh, you nailed her perfectly!" Applejack laughed.


	36. Arrangements

"Thanks for taking me back, Twilight." Alex said as the two of them made their way back to his apartment. It was later in the day, and the sun was already going down.

"No problem, Alex. So, I hear that you and your friend Evan have joined the Pony Tones. That's exciting!" Twilight said, nudging him a bit. He chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm curious to see how that's gonna do. I'm gonna make a playlist of songs tonight that would work for a cappella, and then meet with them tomorrow to see what songs we'll end up doing." Alex explained.

"I look forward to hearing what you come up with." Twilight said.

"Thanks." Alex chuckled. The two of them arrived at the door to Alex's apartment at this point.

"Hey, Alex?" Twilight stopped them for the moment. Alex glanced over at her as he reached in his pocket to get his key.

"Yes?"

"I know we've said this before, of course, but I just wanted to tell you face to face…you know, just, thank you for everything that you did to help our friends out when they were here." Twilight reiterated.

"Yeah, of course." He nodded with a smile.

"I just, you don't understand how worried I was when it all happened. I was… I was worried that something bad would happen to them and it would be my fault… It's impossible to explain how meaningful it was." Twilight expressed.

"Yeah… Uh, I don't really know what else to say, heheh. You know, it was nothing really, you're welcome." Alex nodded.

Twilight smiled a bit and nodded in return before stepping in and giving Alex a hug. Alex returned the hug slowly, feeling sort of strange about it. They hugged warmly for a bit before Twilight tapped him on the shoulder, and then gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Stunned, Alex leaned back, unsure how to react. He did his best to hide his surprise, and Twilight didn't seem to take notice of it; she simply smiled, not saying anything else. Alex turned back towards his door, fumbling to get his key out of his wallet.

Questions began to circle in his head; what was going on? Why did she do that? What were her intentions? He stuck the key into the door and turned it, but it was jammed, and he had to shake it and force it open.

The sweetness of moment quickly faded into awkwardness…

***

"Alex! Where've you been man? We've all been waiting on you." Evan asked as Alex stepped into Rarity's boutique, where all of the other Pony Tones members were waiting for him.

"Sorry, my ride was a little late." Alex explained, adjusting his mane a little bit as he closed the door behind him.

"It's quite alright, darling. Would you like some lemonade?" Rarity offered, gesturing to some drinks set up on a center table.

"That sounds great, thank you." Alex nodded, taking a glass for himself.

"Did you find new music?" Fluttershy asked. Alex nodded, and took a sip before continuing.

"I did! I went through my playlist and put together a list of potential songs that we could do, based on the ranges that you all have and making sure that you all get a chance to have a solo, you know?" Alex explained.

"That sounds perfect." Torch Song said.

"Thank you for being so considerate!" Rarity grinned.

"Sure. So, we can pick out just some random ones, because I have almost 50 songs for us to choose from." Alex revealed. The others' eyes all widened a bit.

"That's a lot," Toe Tapper said. "Maybe we can choose 3 or 4?"

"That sounds fair. Are we all in agreement with that?" Fluttershy asked. The others all glanced at each other and nodded in agreement.

"Alright. Here's what I'll do, I will hit the random button on my playlist, and choose from just whatever comes up." Alex said. The others all nodded once more and listened quietly.

Alex hit the Shuffle button on his phone, and played the music out loud so they all could hear. Quickly going through the first few songs that played, they listened to _Attention, Come and Get Your Love,_ and _Night Changes._

"These all sound like good songs for us to interpret." Rarity said with an approving nod.

"Well, that was easy." Toe Tapper said with a chuckle.

"Haha, that's a little short for a show, isn't it?" Torch Song pointed out.

"Well, it doesn't necessarily need to be that long." Fluttershy said.

"I thought we were gonna keep that first song you showed us, the 'finding the music in you' one." Evan said.

"I don't see why we couldn't. That'd make it, what, 15 minutes or so?" Rarity estimated.

"That sounds ideal for an a cappella show, actually." Alex said with a chuckle.

"Well, then I guess our next step is to start working on putting a show together." Torch Song said with a chuckle.

"Really? Like, right now?" Alex asked with some surprise.

"Do you have any prior plans for later?" Rarity asked. Alex shrugged.

"Not until later, no. Hey, I guess since we have it decided, we might as well get into it now. I'm down." Alex said, going and sitting with them.

"Bro, that was so cool! We're gonna be famous dude, I can already tell." Evan said excitedly as they made their way back towards the Tree of Harmony.

"Haha, you know, it's already starting to come together pretty nicely. We're gonna have something really legit when it's all finished up. But then we gotta perform it, you know?"

"Pssh, we've performed before, we'll be alright." Evan said.

"Yeah, maybe, but we're joining up with a pre-established group now man. They've _already_ performed before, which means that we'll be in front of a bigger crowd." Alex pointed out.

"Ooh shoot, you're right… We still got this though." Evan tapped him. Alex chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm sure we will. Once we've gotten through practice and everything, we'll be pretty much set. Hey, I'll catch you later man, I gotta go meet with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie at the Sugarcube." Alex said, beginning to slow down.

"Oh shoot, you double-dipping now? Good for you man, leave me out of it, but you do you."

"Ew, no man. Go home. Later."

"Later." Evan waved him off with a laugh.

Alex turned around and made his way back through town, heading towards the Sugarcube. At this point, it was later in the day, and soon enough the sun would be going down. As he started to approach it, he found himself approaching a mare that was waiting for him to get close enough to get his attention.

"Hello there." She greeted him with a smile. She had a British accent. He stopped for a moment, looking at her. She was a grayish sort of color with black hair, and a pinkish treble clef for a cutie mark.

"Hi," He stopped with a strange expression. "Um, do I know you?"

"I'm Octavia Melody. And you're Alex?" She presumed as they shook hooves. Alex nodded.

"Uh, yeah, that's me."

"Right? You met my friend, Vinyl Scratch, not long ago."

"Oh, oh! Okay, yeah, that wasn't too long ago." Alex confirmed with a nod.

"Mhmm. She told about you and said you two talked. I saw you just now and I was thinking 'That looks _exactly_ like the stallion that she was talking about." She explained with a laugh. Alex laughed a bit as well.

"Ohh, okay, I see, haha. Yeah, she came and sat by me for a bit. I think she probably noticed my cutie mark since they're both kind of the same, and we just chilled for a bit."

"That sounds like something she would do, yeah. Are you a musician?" She asked curiously. Alex shook his head.

"Eh, not really, I just really love music, so that's probably how it ties in. I listen to music all the time. I can't really go without it." Alex explained.

"Ohh, that makes a lot of sense. Well, Vinyl and I are musicians. I do classical, and she does more…electronic arrangements. You should come to visit us sometime. We live in the corner over that way, you can't miss it." Octavia pointed down the road.

"Oh, that sounds cool. I didn't realize she was a musician, but I'll have to hear what you two have then. You said classical, what instrument do you play?"

"The cello. I've been playing it for a long long time." Octavia answered with a fond smile.

"Cool! I like the cello, it sounds very pretty. I'll see you around then, and maybe we can talk about that visit. I'm meeting some friends, so…" Alex said as he began to walk around her towards Sugarcube Corner.

"Oh, right, sorry, don't let me keep you then. It was nice meeting you, Alex! Take care now." She said, waving to him.

"You too, Octavia, stay safe." He said. Approaching the Sugarcube Corner, he saw Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie sitting at a table outside the restaurant, waiting for him.

"Heyyy, look at you, making new friends!" Pinkie giggled excitedly.

"Heheh, yeah, sure. She's just a friend of someone I met out on my walk."

"Cool! That's great!" Rainbow Dash said, smiling at him and gesturing for him to sit.

Alex cleared his throat, making eye contact with her for a few seconds. In those few seconds, she saw that Alex had something on his mind that they needed to talk about. However, he didn't say anything further right then and there as he sat at the table with them…


	37. The Cause of Problems

Rainbow Dash landed at the Tree of Harmony, entering through the doors forcibly. They hit against the wall abruptly, making a lot of noise. The first pony to show her face to see what happened was Starlight, who was just one room over.

"Rainbow Dash? What was that for?" She asked.

"Where's Twilight?" Rainbow Dash demanded. Starlight paused for a moment.

"She's…in the library, I think. Is something going on…?" Starlight asked curiously. Rainbow Dash stormed passed her, heading upstairs.

"There's about to be." Rainbow Dash muttered as she continued upstairs.

She passed by Spike on her way to the library. The two nearly bumped into each other, but Spike stepped out of the way just in time to avoid crashing into her.

"Woah, almost hit you, Rainbow Dash. What're you doing here? Is there a friendship problem?" Spike asked. Rainbow Dash grunted a bit.

"Yeah, there is." She grumbled, continuing on past him. Spike watched her continue with concern, but shrugged and kept going on his own way.

Rainbow Dash finally reached the door to the library. She threw the doors open in the same manner, stepping in and letting them close by themselves behind her, all of which made even more noise than the first time.

Twilight, who was sitting and reading in her chair, flinched in surprise, her eyebrows furrowing as she looked up at an evidently upset Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow Dash, could you please take more care with the doors? We just had some renovations in here." Twilight asked politely. Rainbow Dash sneered a bit.

"You and I need to talk, Twilight." She said. Twilight's furrowed eyebrows now curled upwards in confusion and concern.

"Why? Did something happen?" She asked, leaving her place in her book and setting it down on the table next to her chair.

"Something _did_ happen, with you and Alex, _my_ new boyfriend." Rainbow Dash made clear why she was here. Twilight tilted her head a bit.

"Your new boyfriend? You two decided to start dating? What did I do about that?" Twilight asked, still unsure what Rainbow Dash was upset about.

"Do I really have to spell it out for you? You were hitting on him!" She pointed at Twilight. Twilight's eyes widened.

"Hitting on him? I, uh, no. I don't like like him like that, Rainbow Dash, he's nice and all, but I'm not interested. He's your boyfriend now anyways, I wouldn't hit on him." Twilight said.

"But you did! You kissed him! Right here!" Rainbow Dash shouted, pointing to her right cheek. Now realizing what was upsetting her, Twilight stood up and began to explain herself.

"Oh, no, Rainbow Dash, that's not what I meant by it at all. I was just thanking Alex for helping you and Rarity and Fluttershy back when all of this started. After everything that had happened, and how I worried I was, it was such a huge relief when I found out he'd been helping you all this time.

"That's all it was, I was just telling him how I felt." Twilight said.

"Telling him how you felt?!" Rainbow Dash shouted. Twilight rubbed her face a bit with a sigh.

"It wasn't like that, Rainbow Dash! I don't even want a special somepony." Twilight pointed out.

"You have a funny way of showing it, that's for sure." Rainbow Dash said, still on the offensive.

"Ugh, this is ridiculous, Rainbow. You know me, how long have we known each other? I would _not_ even think about doing that to you. What did Alex say about it?" Twilight asked curiously.

"He told me what you did and said that he wasn't sure what it meant, but he wasn't comfortable with it." Rainbow Dash recounted.

"Well, then I'm sorry. And I can apologize to him too for making him feel uncomfortable. But that's all that I am guilty of." Twilight made clear where she stood. Rainbow Dash shifted a bit, taking a few moments to mull this over.

"So, you _weren't_ hitting on Alex, just so we're clear."

"No! Sheesh, no, Rainbow Dash, honestly, it's silly that you would even think that." Twilight said, now starting to get defensive.

"Well, I wasn't there, I only could go off of what he told me, and it sounded bad!" Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Okay, okay, let's not argue about it anymore. Obviously, we all need to get to know Alex a little better in order to understand what we can and can't do. We can sit down and talk with him, and I will apologize for giving off a wrong impression. Is that fair?" She asked.

"Yes, that's fair." Rainbow Dash agreed.

"Okay. I'm sorry." Twilight said, hugging Rainbow Dash. She hugged back after a bit.

"I'm sorry too, and…sorry about your doors."

"It's alright, it doesn't looked like you scratched anything. But you seemed pretty worked up."

"Yeah, well, you know…" Rainbow Dash awkwardly scratched the back of her head, her cheeks now flushed with embarrassment.

"Haha, I understand. So, you and Alex are officially dating now? That's really great! I'm happy for you both!" Twilight exclaimed with a grin.

"Thanks. It's still kind of a new thing. I'm really excited about it." Rainbow Dash said.

"I'm excited for you! I'm sure you two will be great for each other." Twilight said with a smile.

"Thanks, Twilight. I don't know why I ever doubted you." Rainbow Dash said. The two of them giggled a bit. Spike came in just then.

"Twilight, you need to come outside, right now!" Spike exclaimed, looking almost frantic.

"What's wrong, Spike?" Twilight asked.

"Princess Celestia is here!"

"What?!" Twilight exclaimed in shock, her horn glowing quickly. She teleported outside her castle doors.

Indeed, there was Princess Celestia stepping off of her royal chariot. Her expression was not a pleasant one as she stood before Twilight.

"Princess Celestia, you're here!" She said rather loudly, unsure what else to say as she bowed respectively. Celestia gestured for her to stand.

"I asked you to come to the castle two days ago, Twilight, which is why I'm here now. Unfortunately, you forced my hoof there." Celestia said with an irritated sigh.

"I'm sorry, Princess, I asked Spike to send out a letter explaining why I wasn't able to come right away." Twilight pointed out.

"I received it, but this matter needed to be addressed face to face."

"Matter?" Twilight repeated in confusion.

"It's regarding a guest that you've taken in: his name is Alex." Celestia started. Twilight's expression made apparent her surprise.

"How do you know about Alex?"

"Luna came upon him in a dream a few days ago. The details she discovered regarding his origins were quite concerning." Celestia explained.

"I apologize for not telling you, Celestia, but it was all so sudden." Twilight said.

"No excuses, Twilight. He needs to return to his own world and remain there permanently." Celestia said in no uncertain terms.

"What?! Why?!" Twilight demanded an answer.

"Since learning of being here, I asked for more research to be done, and what I've found are a series of strange and potentially harmful events that are directly linked to the portal that you've been using to transport him here." Celestia brought out.

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, not believing what she was hearing.

"All this time that you've been opening the portal, Twilight, strange signals have been coming out of his world, leading to malfunctions and mysterious power outages in several cities. In addition, magic from our world has been seeping into his, which could pose dangerous consequences for those on the other side." Celestia explained.

"But…that can be fixed, right…? We can't- We can't just pretend this never happened after everything he's done." Twilight defended.

"I'm sorry, Twilight, but you'll have to." Celestia said before turning and leaving in her chariot…


	38. Goodbyes

Alex was sitting in his living room playing video games, patiently waiting for either Twilight or Starlight to arrive so that he could go to Equestria again. He was planning on spending the day with Rainbow Dash today; they were gonna go to a Wonderbolt practice so he could watch her fly again, and then they'd pick up some ice cream afterwards.

That knock on the door finally came. He opened up the door, and there was Twilight. She was slumped over a bit, looking rather upset. Alex's eyebrows furrowed strangely.

"Hey, Twilight. You don't look too good."

"I don't feel too good. Can I come in?" She asked.

"Sure." He nodded, and she came in. He looked outside to see if anyone else was there, but she had come alone again.

"First off, I wanna say that I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable before. I just wanted to say my thanks, I didn't mean anything else by it." Twilight said, sitting down.

"Oh. Um, it's alright, I guess. I really kind of overreacted to it, I've just…never been thanked like that before, and you know, I just started this thing with Rainbow Dash, so I wasn't sure what to do about it…" Alex explained awkwardly.

"That's not why you look so hung up, is it?" He asked. She shook her head.

"Oh, poor Rainbow Dash, she's gonna be crushed." Twilight said in realization, dropping her face into her hands and shaking her head.

"Crushed by what? What's going on?" Alex asked, sitting adjacent to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him.

"I'm sorry, Alex, but I've been asked to not take you to Equestria anymore."

"What? Why? What happened?" Alex asked again. Twilight sighed.

"It's been brought to my attention that the portal that we've been using to go back and forth is posing dangerous risks to both your world and mine, so I've been asked not to open it anymore." Twilight explained.

"So…that means that…you won't be coming back?" Alex asked. Twilight shook her head.

"Can you have Evan come? I'm sure he'll want to say goodbye too." Twilight said. Saying the word 'goodbye' made it clear to Alex that this was serious; this was the end…

"I'll call him right now." Alex said.

"I can't believe this… Twilight, surely there must be something that you can do!" Rarity pleaded with her. Twilight shook her head.

"I don't have a choice… Princess Celestia didn't give me one." Twilight said with a sigh.

"But-but that's not fair!" Pinkie said, looking highly upset by this.

"We-we just…" Rainbow Dash's voice broke off as she leaned against Alex sadly. Alex wrapped an arm around her.

"Yeah…" Alex sighed.

"So… We'll never see each other again…?" Fluttershy asked with tears in her eyes as she looked at Evan. Evan just hugged her; it was difficult to see her cry.

"It looks that way, I'm afraid." Applejack said quietly.

"We just…wanted to have a chance to all say our goodbyes…" Starlight said. The raw emotion in the room was weighing heavily on her as well.

"Well, I guess this really is it then…" Rarity said acceptingly, sighing once more.

"We really can't thank ya'll enough for all ya'll have done for our friends. We'll never forget it." Applejack said, being the first to hug both Evan and Alex.

"Thanks, Applejack." Alex said with a nod.

"I'm really sorry it had to be this way." She said before stepping away.

"I guess we never will get to have that Pony Tones performance. And I was really looking forward to it too. Oh well," Rarity said, managing a sad smile as she hugged them both, first Evan and then Alex.

"I hope you know, Alex, that this really did mean a whole lot to all of us. This certainly isn't how any of us wanted things to go." Rarity said, patting him on the shoulder.

"Thank you again, Alex. I'm really sorry." Fluttershy said, hugging him.

"Don't be. There's nothing to be done about it now." Alex said, letting her go back to Evan.

"Gosh, uh… I'm really bad at goodbyes." Starlight admitted as she went to hug them.

"Yeah, me too." Evan said.

"That's alright. Thank you for taking us back and forth." Alex said to her.

"Of course." She nodded.

"I know this is really unfair to you both, and I wish there was some other way." Twilight said, hugging them both next.

"Me too man…" Evan shook his head.

"Don't worry about it, Twilight," Alex said, hugging her back. "It'll be alright. It'll just take some getting used to." He said.

"Yeah…" She sighed.

"We didn't even get to have a party!" Pinkie Pie sobbed as she hugged them both, almost pulling them to the ground. They returned her hug, letting her get her crying out for a bit before letting her go.

"We know it would've been awesome." Evan said, trying to be reassuring.

"Thanks for the cupcakes though. They were _really_ good." Alex said, managing a smile.

"You're welcome." She nodded through her sniffles as she stepped away. Lastly, Rainbow Dash went up to Evan first.

"You seem pretty cool, and you and Alex are really close. Take care of him for me, please?" She asked. Evan nodded, hugging her for a bit.

"You know I will."

Finally, as the others began to clear out of the apartment, it was just Alex and Rainbow Dash. She waited until they were left alone inside, and the rest had cleared out.

"I… I don't know what to say. I'm mad, I'm upset, and just…really really sad. It isn't fair…" Rainbow Dash grumbled as she stepped into his arms and clung to him. He wrapped his arms around her tightly.

"Yeah, I know how you feel," He sighed. "But I am happy that we did have a little bit of time together, and I definitely wouldn't have traded the chance to meet you and your friends. I just, you know, wish that it didn't have to end, or at least, have it end this way." Alex admitted.

"I just didn't want it to end." She said, hugging him tightly and beginning to cry too. She kissed his cheek once before burying her face in his shoulder. He held her for awhile before loosening his grip.

Rainbow Dash looked up into his eyes, full of sadness, but also with some hints of hope and expectation. Alex looked back down at her, pained. He was idle for a moment, and then finally let her go…

"You should get going. Your...friends are waiting for you." Alex said.

"Yeah…" Rainbow Dash nodded in disappointment, going to the door. "You're not coming?" She asked, trying again. Alex shook his head.

"No…sorry. I, uh, wish you the best though…with everything." He said.

"Yeah, you too…" Rainbow Dash nodded once more before opening the door, drying her now red eyes as she stepped out with the others.

"Is that it then?" Fluttershy asked. Apparently the others had been waiting on both of them as well. Rainbow Dash nodded.

"Yeah, let's go home."

It was a silent and solemn walk back to where the portal would open. As they neared it, Rainbow Dash hugged herself, fighting back tears in his eyes. She didn't let her friends comfort her there. The only arms she wanted around her had stayed behind.

"We won't forget any of you. I can say that at least." Evan said, unsure what else to say.

"Neither will we." Twilight said.

Fluttershy turned and hugged him one last time. Evan hugged back with a hand behind her head. He let it slip to her cheek, wiping a tear away before giving her a farewell kiss. The others patiently waited, but Rainbow Dash just looked away…

Finally, Evan waved them off and turned away, walking back the way he had come. Twilight joined hands with Fluttershy and Starlight, and the others all joined hands as well, Rainbow Dash being the last in the chain. They took a deep breath…

And then they were gone…


	39. Talking To The Moon

Twilight walked around the cutie map, dusting off its edges and enveloped in her own thoughts. She'd let Spike go to bed early, and was finishing up cleaning the map room on her own, giving herself busywork as her mind ran rampant.

What had she done wrong? What could she have done differently? Was this truly the end? Would it have been better had this never happened at all?

It was hard to say, because it HAD happened, and now, there was no going back. She, along with the rest of her friends, would now have to cope with the memory and the disappointment. She couldn't help but feel responsible for that.

"Twilight?"

Her thoughts were broken up by Fluttershy's soft-spoken voice. She and Rainbow Dash had come into the map room to see her. She shook her head a bit in surprise.

"Rainbow Dash? Fluttershy? What are you two doing here so late?" She asked them.

"Um, well…" Fluttershy tried to start, but she trailed off. Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"It's been awhile since we last saw Alex and Evan on Earth, and we know we can't go back, but…we were wondering if there was a way to use the map just so we can check in on then, see them one more time." Rainbow Dash explained.

"I see… Well, I'm not sure, but Star Swirl did something like that recently. Perhaps there's a way I can adjust it." Twilight said hopefully.

"Oh, thank you, Twilight." Fluttershy thanked her.

It took some thinking and some ingenuity, but Twilight did manage to figure out how to repurpose the map to create an image of others, and then, with some proper aim, she was able to pull up where Evan was and what he was doing…

Evan was quietly listening to his music and doing the family dishes. He rubbed the face of the plate in a circular motion with his soapy sponge, quietly absorbing himself in the music and tones of Owl City.

"Hey, Evan, honey." His mother came, tapping him on the arm. He glanced over, and removed an earbud.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"You still look upset since that girl left, uh, Fluttershy?"

"Yeah. Uh… You know, I've just been thinkin' about her, wondering how she's doing." He admitted.

"You never said what happened that you two had to go your separate ways, hun. What happened there?" His mother asked curiously.

"She just went home, basically. Their friends came to get them, and they just can't make the trip back, so that had to be it." Evan said with a melancholy shrug.

"Ah, that's a shame. But you know, soon enough another girl will come along and make you happy. Just take some time to focus on yourself for now." She advised, patting his shoulder and giving him a quick hug.

"Thanks, Mom…" Evan said, accepting her hug and letting her go. "I was already happy though." He muttered with a sigh.

Fluttershy sobbed a bit as she wiped away her tears. Twilight and Rainbow Dash glanced at her empathetically.

"Do you wanna move on to, Alex, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked. She took a breath and nodded.

"Yeah…" She answered. Twilight nodded, changing the map to Alex.

"It's been awhile since we've seen you on the night shift here, Alex. How've you been?" His coworker, Kathy, asked as they and another man, Leonardo, walked with him to his car.

"Oh, you know, I'm okay. I, uh, just had a rough breakup." Alex admitted.

"Ah man, that's rough. How are you holding up?" Leonardo asked sympathetically. Alex just shrugged a bit.

"I'm alright." Alex answered simply, which hit Rainbow Dash like an arrow.

"Are you sure?" Kathy asked.

"Mhmm," He nodded. "Thanks for asking." He said as he reached his car.

"No problem. Get home safe." Kathy said.

"Thanks. Take care, you two." He waved them off, and got in his car as they went back into the hospital.

Alex sat in the driver's seat of his car, sitting back with a sigh. He watched his coworkers leave, and waited until they were back inside to turn on the battery of his car, plugging in his phone into the car speakers, and beginning to play a song.

With a sigh, he began to sing along quietly:

" _I know you're somewhere out there, somewhere far away. I want you back… I want you back… My neighbors think I'm crazy, but they don't understand you're all I had… You're all I had…_

" _At night when the stars light up my room, I sit by myself… Talking to the mo-oo-oon. Tryna get to you-ooh-ooh. In hopes you're on the other side talking to me too. Oh, am I fool who sits alone talking to the moon?_

" _I'm feeling like I'm famous, the talk of the town. They say I've gone mad, yeah, I've gone mad. But they don't know what I know, 'cause when the sun goes down someone's talking back, yeah, they're talking back, oh._

" _At night when the stars light up my room, I sit by myself… Talking to the mo-oo-oon. Tryna get to you-ooh-ooh. In hopes you're on the other side talking to me too. Oh, am I fool who sits alone talking to the moon?_

" _Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh, do you ever hear me calling? Oh oh, oh oh, oh oh…_

"' _Cause every night, I'm talking to the moo-oo-oon. Still tryna get to you-ooh-ooh. In hopes you're on the other side talking to me too. Oh, am I fool, who sits alone talking to the moon? Oh oh oh…_

" _I know you're somewhere out there, somewhere far away…"_

**The End**

**(Follow for Book 2)**


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